Hearing Aids (Hansard, 29 November 1988)

§ Mr. Ashley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his best estimate of the number of people who would benefit from wearing a hearing aid.

§ Mrs. Currie
The Institute of Hearing Research claims that there are 3.2 million adults over 18 years of age in England and Wales who have a hearing loss of at least 35 decibels in the better ear and who might therefore benefit from having a hearing aid fitted.

§ Mr. Ashley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hearing aid centres there are in the United Kindom and what is the average wait for an appointment.

§ Mrs. Currie
There are 179 hearing aid centres in England and Wales. According to a survey carried out in 1986 by the British Association of Audiology Technicians, the average waiting time in the United Kingdom is 7.2 weeks.

§ Mr. Ashley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hearing aids were fitted in the last year for194W which figures are available; how many were for (a) children and (b) pensioners; and what proportion were private aids supplied by the National Health Service.

§ Mrs. Currie
Around 150,000 hearing aids were fitted to new patients in England and Wales in the Financial year 1987–88. We cannot say how many were for children and pensioners but around 4 per cent. would be private aids supplied by the National Health Service.

§ Mr. Ashley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has about the number and percentage of people who do not wear their National Health Service hearing aid after it has been provided.

§ Mrs. Currie
The best information we have is from the Institute of Hearing Research, which estimates that nearly a quarter of people who have a hearing aid do not use it.

§ Mr. Ashley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many National Health Service hearing aids are currently being used by deaf and hard of hearing people; how many batteries are supplied annually; and from how many centres they are available.

§ Mrs. Currie
The vast majority of National Health Service hearing aids are behind-the-ear models and around 3.5 million have been issued since 1974. Over 20 million batteries are issued annually from 372 centres in England and Wales.

§ Mr. Ashley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hearing aid centres operate an accelerated referral procedure; what proportion this is of the total; what monitoring there has been of accelerated referral; and what is his Department's policy on this procedure.

§ Mrs. Currie
The British Association of Audiology Technicians carried out a survey of just over 200 audiology departments and hearing aid centres in 1986. Of the 148 who replied, 91 had a system of accelerated referral. The organisation of audiology departments and hearing aid centres is the responsibility of district health authorities.

§ Mr. Ashley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how may hearing aid centres have domiciliary visiting provision; to what extent it is used; and how many people are visited;
(2) what information he has regarding the number of people requiring hearing aids who would benefit from a domiciliary visit;
(3) what is the average length of time spent by National Health Service audiology technician fitting a hearing aid and advising on its use; and how many follow-up appointments are generally required.

§ Mrs. Currie
We do not hold this information centrally.

§ Mr. Ashley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the types of hearing aids currently supplied by the National Health Service.

§ Mrs. Currie
The types of hearing aid in the National Health Service standard range are:
195W

Code number Description

BE11 Head-worn hearing aid, with induction coil and tone control, suitable for the moderately hard of hearing.

BE11 BE11 hearing aid in brown case.

BE12 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil suitable for the moderately hard of hearing.

BE13 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil and forward-facing microphone suitable for the moderately hard of hearing.

BE14 Head-worn aid with induction coil and tone control suitable for the moderately hard of hearing.

BE15 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil and tone control suitable for the moderately hard of hearing.

BE16 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, tone control and forward facing microphone for the moderately hard of hearing.

BE17 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, low cut tone control and forward facing microphone for the moderately hard of hearing.

B1702 BE17 hearing aid in brown case.

BE18 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, low cut tone, 3-position peak clipping presets and forward facing microphone for the moderately hard of hearing.

BE19 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, low cut tone control and forward facing microphone for the moderately hard of hearing.

BE31 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, tone control and peak clipping for the moderately to severely hard of hearing.

BE31 BE31 Hearing aid in brown case.

BE32 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, tone control, peak clipping and forward facing microphone for the moderately to severely hard of hearing.

BE33 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, low cut tone control, peak clipping and forward facing microphone for the moderately to severely hard of hearing.

BE34 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, tone control and peak clipping forward facing microphone for the moderately to severely hard of hearing.

BE35 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, tone control and peak clipping, forward facing microphone for the moderately severely hard of hearing.

BE51 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, low-high cut tone, peak clipping, combined MT presets and forward facing microphone for the severely hard of hearing.

BE52 BE52 Hearing aid in brown case.

BE53 Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, independent low and high cut tone, peak clipping, combined MT presets and forward facing microphone for the severely hard of hearing.

BE61 Body-worn high power air and bone conduction hearing aid with induction coil, combined MT, low cut tone controls, low and high cut tone, adjustable peak clipping, adjustable maximum gain presets for the very severely hard of hearing.

BE81 Body-worn extra powerful air and bone conduction hearing aid with induction coil combined MT control low-high cut tone, adjustable peak clipping, adjustable maximum gain presets for the profoundly hard of hearing.

§ Mr. Ashley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to provide a National Health Service in-the-ear hearing aid.

§ Mrs. Currie
In-the-ear aids are not included in the standard range of National Health Service hearing aids, but district health authorities have power to provide them if they are considered to be essential.

§ Mr. Ashley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will seek evidence from consumer groups and those concerned with the welfare of the elderly regarding the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with National Health Service and the private supply of hearing aids.

§ Mrs. Currie
We are in touch with various voluntary and other organisations about hearing aid provision.

Code number	Description
BE11	Head-worn hearing aid, with induction coil and tone control, suitable for the moderately hard of hearing.
BE11	BE11 hearing aid in brown case.
BE12	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil suitable for the moderately hard of hearing.
BE13	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil and forward-facing microphone suitable for the moderately hard of hearing.
BE14	Head-worn aid with induction coil and tone control suitable for the moderately hard of hearing.
BE15	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil and tone control suitable for the moderately hard of hearing.
BE16	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, tone control and forward facing microphone for the moderately hard of hearing.
BE17	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, low cut tone control and forward facing microphone for the moderately hard of hearing.
B1702	BE17 hearing aid in brown case.
BE18	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, low cut tone, 3-position peak clipping presets and forward facing microphone for the moderately hard of hearing.
BE19	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, low cut tone control and forward facing microphone for the moderately hard of hearing.
BE31	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, tone control and peak clipping for the moderately to severely hard of hearing.
BE31	BE31 Hearing aid in brown case.
BE32	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, tone control, peak clipping and forward facing microphone for the moderately to severely hard of hearing.
BE33	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, low cut tone control, peak clipping and forward facing microphone for the moderately to severely hard of hearing.
BE34	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, tone control and peak clipping forward facing microphone for the moderately to severely hard of hearing.
BE35	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, tone control and peak clipping, forward facing microphone for the moderately severely hard of hearing.
BE51	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, low-high cut tone, peak clipping, combined MT presets and forward facing microphone for the severely hard of hearing.
BE52	BE52 Hearing aid in brown case.
BE53	Head-worn hearing aid with induction coil, independent low and high cut tone, peak clipping, combined MT presets and forward facing microphone for the severely hard of hearing.
BE61	Body-worn high power air and bone conduction hearing aid with induction coil, combined MT, low cut tone controls, low and high cut tone, adjustable peak clipping, adjustable maximum gain presets for the very severely hard of hearing.
BE81	Body-worn extra powerful air and bone conduction hearing aid with induction coil combined MT control low-high cut tone, adjustable peak clipping, adjustable maximum gain presets for the profoundly hard of hearing.