Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the recommendations contained in the report from the Ear Foundation entitled Bending the Spend, published in October 2015; and if he will make a statement.

The Department in conjunction with NHS England jointly published the Action Plan on Hearing Loss in March 2015. The Action Plan sets out the case for action to tackle the rising prevalence and personal, social and economic costs of uncorrected hearing loss and the variation in access and quality of service.

The areas highlighted within the Bending the Spend report concur with and further strengthen those in the Action Plan. This includes the need to assess strategies for the earlier identification and management of hearing loss and the development of commissioning guidance to underpin the Action Plan, which NHS England will co-produce with stakeholders such as the Ear Foundation.

A Cross System Oversight Group had its first meeting on 14 October 2015. This will not only review and monitor progress of the implementation of the Action Plan, but will also provide a forum for government departments, arm’s length bodies and stakeholders within the hearing loss community to engage with each other to ensure connections are made and maintained across the system.

Membership of this group includes the Hearing Loss and Deafness Alliance of which the Ear Foundation is a member.