Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the accessibility of hearing tests for those 18 years old and under, including by audiologists who are not registered with the CQC.

The Government is committed to transforming diagnostic services in England and will support the National Health Service to increase diagnostic capacity, including for audiology services for those 18 years old and under.

The National Diagnostic Waiting Times and Activity dataset includes data on the percentage of patients waiting more than six weeks for an audiology assessment, and can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/

However, this data cannot be split by adult/child, therefore the Department has not made a formal assessment of the accessibility of hearing tests for those 18 years old and under. As of January 2026, the dataset showed that 45% of patients were waiting more than six weeks for an audiology assessment.

Audiology services are not required to be registered with Care Quality Commission where the services provided do not fall under the regulated activities, as set out in the regulations. Audiology activities, such as hearing tests, hearing aid fittings, and tympanometry/routine assessments are not regulated activities. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-regulation/providers/registration/scope-registration/regulated-activities/diagnostic-and-screening-procedures

When an audiologist is a practicing clinical scientist or a hearing aid dispenser, they must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.hcpc-uk.org/