§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will estimate the number of chilren who were issued with commercial aids, and who then, when they had become too old to qualify for such an issue, had either to buy their own or use a National Health Service one;
(2) what representations he has received urging him to allow the National Health Service to provide commercial aids for young adults when such aids were provided for them when they were children;
(3) what representations he has had following the report of the National Deaf Children's Society on "Deaf Children and their Hearing Aids"; and if he will make a statement;
(4) when he plans to introduce National Health Service body-worn and ear-level 453W aids comparable with the most powerful ones in the commercial sector.
§ Mr. Alfred Morris:I regret that information is not available on which to base a reliable estimate. A small number of representations about the provision of commercial hearing aids have been received. The number increased slightly following publication of the report. The Government are committed to extending and improving hearing aid provision as soon as resources permit.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will take steps to ascertain the number of children who are on waiting lists for commercial aids which have been prescribed by consultants but which the hospitals cannot supply immediately because of cost restrictions; and if he will publish the figures on an area basis;
(2) how many hospitals where consultants prescribe hearing aids have requested an increased allocation of funds for the provision of commercial hearing aids.
§ Mr. Alfred Morris:I am not aware of any general delay in the provision of commercial hearing aids to children through the National Health Service. I understand that one hospital in London is seeking an increase in its financial allocation for hearing aids in 1979–80 and has also issued a few hearing aids from the standard range, as a temporary measure, because the commercial aids that have been prescribed cannot be supplied immediately due to difficulties over funding.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will issue a circular recommending that consultants should prescribe commercial hearing aids paid for by the National Health Service, in all cases where they are of greater benefit to profoundly deaf children than the National Health Service aids even if the child has to go on a waiting list;
(2) whether his Department has issued advice on consultants on the circumstances under which they should prescribe commercial aids.
§ Mr. Alfred Morris:Commercial hearing aids may be issued to children when, in the opinion of the consultant, their clinical needs cannot be met from the standard range of NHS aids. Guidance to 454W that effect was first issued in March 1974, and is updated as necessary.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will estimate the number of deaf adults who are not helped by the current National Health Service aids but would be helped by the commercial aids; and if he will express this number as a proportion of the number of adults who use a National Health Service aid;
(2) if he will estimate the cost of the National Health Service paying for commercial aids for all adults who would benefit from them and cannot benefit from the current National Health Service aids.
§ Mr. Alfred Morris:I regret that information on which to base reliable estimates is not available, but the number is believed to be very small.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many children have been issued with hearing aids by the National Health Service for each year since 1974; and what proportion of them have been issued with commercial aids:
(2) if he will give the ratio of commercial to National Health Service aids prescribed for children in each National Health Service region;
(3) if he will estimate the number of deaf children whose deafness is such that they get more benefit from commercial aids than from the National Health Service ones; and what proportion these are of all deaf children.
§ Mr. Alfred Morris:No reliable estimate can be made of the number of children who receive more benefit from a commercial hearing aid than from an aid in the standard NHS range. Information about issues of hearing aids is not available in the form requested, but it is estimated that, in 1977, one-quarter of all hearing aids issued to children were commercial models.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the cost of the National Health Service aids and of the commercial aids provided through the National Health Service for each year since 1974; and if he will express the cost in money and real terms.
§ Mr. Alfred Morris:It is not the practice to disclose unit prices for individual 455W articles purchased under Government contracts. However, the total central expenditure for England, which includes purchase of aids and accessories together with batteries, earmoulds, repairs of aids and stock provisioning, was as follows:
£ 1974–75 2,174,816 1975–76 4,576,201 1976–77 5,294,090 1977–78 5,863,869 Excluding fitting and diagnostic costs, the average cost of National Health Service hearing aids issued to patients including repaired and re-issued aids was:
£ 1974–75 7.14 1975–76 13.05 1976–77 14.13 1977–78 15.48 The bulk of the increase between 1974–75 and 1975–76 was due to the introduction into general supply of behind the ear hearing aids. I regret that changes in the range of models supplied over the period would make it impossible to construct an accurate overall price index for hearing aids purchased centrally for the National Health Service.
Information is not available centrally of the costs of commercial hearing aids provided by National Health Service authorities.