HL Deb 26 November 1997 vol 583 cc117-9WA
Earl Russell

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the decision to appoint Dr. Ann Braidwood to review a decision to interpret the ageing affect of bilateral sensorineural hearing loss after leaving the Services as unconnected with any injury in the course of service in the Armed Forces, to which she was herself a party, conflicts with the principles of natural justice.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)

No. The review has not been set up to review a decision. The aim is to ensure that the scientific evidence on which the current approach to the assessment of hearing loss for the purposes of claims to war disablement pensions is based is clear.

The terms of reference for the review are to consider the scientific basis of the assessment of service related noise induced sensorineural hearing loss under the war pension scheme, and to answer the following questions:

  1. (i) What is the progress of noise induced sensorineural hearing loss following removal from the source of noise
  2. (ii) Is the combination of noise induced sensorineural hearing loss and subsequent hearing loss due to age more than additive?

The review is being conducted by a team of professionals chaired by the Government's Chief Medical Officer. Apart from the Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Braidwood, the team includes four leading experts in the field of hearing loss, two of whom previously advised the Royal British Legion on the subject. The full composition of the team is as follows:

Chairman

Sir Kenneth Calman KCB, MD, FRCS, FRSE

Chief Medical Officer

Members

Professor Adrian Davis BSc, MSc, PhD

Head of Epidemiology, Public Health & Clinical Section

Medical Research Council, Institute of Hearing Research

Nottingham

Professor Linda Luxon BSc, FRCP

Professor of Audiological Medicine

University College London Medical School

Professor Mark Lutman BSc, MSc. PhD

Professor of Audiology

Institute of Sound and Vibration Research

University of Southampton

Dr. Guy Lightfoot BSc, MSc, PhD

Senior Audiological Scientist

Department of Clinical Engineering

Royal Liverpool Hospital

Member and Secretary

Dr. Elizabeth Braidwood BSc, MBChB, MRCP(UK),

MRCGP

War Pensions Medical Policy Adviser

The review commenced in September 1997 when each of the experts on hearing loss was asked, separately and independently, to consider the scientific evidence and provide written comments on the questions set out in the terms of reference, and to submit any relevant scientific papers. The written evidence has been received and formed the basis of the discussion at a meeting on 19 November 1997.

The conclusions of the review team will inform the approach of medical officers of the War Pensions Agency, who certify medical questions arising on war pension claims, including the assessment of the level of disablement due to service. Decisions made in accordance with the medical officer's certificate carry a statutory right of appeal to an independent pensions appeal tribunal.