Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the withdrawal of ear syringing procedures by GPs on patient wellbeing in the West Midlands.

Manual ear syringing is no longer advised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) due to the risks associated with it, such as trauma to their ear drum or infection. NICE takes account of the potential benefits and risks of treatments to patients when developing its recommendations and sets them out in guidance, for instance the guidance on hearing loss in adults. It is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng98/chapter/Recommendations#removing-earwax

To promote the wellbeing of those with an excessive build-up of ear wax, the National Health Service website recommends home remedies such as olive oil drops. If further ear wax removal treatment is required, then general practices can refer patients into recommended, safe and professional ear wax removal services such as micro-suction or ear irrigation. Integrated care boards are responsible for ensuring such services are in place as are required to meet the needs of the local population.