Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of removing excess ear wax from a patient in (a) primary care and (b) in hospital departments.

Within hospital settings, the average cost of removing excess ear wax is £127. Information on the average cost in primary care is not held centrally. General practitioner (GP) practices are increasingly recommending self-care methods to support the safe removal of ear wax.

However, if a GP practice considers removal clinically necessary, the procedure should either be undertaken at the practice or the patient should be referred to an appropriate local NHS service depending on the arrangements in that area. Local commissioners are responsible for meeting the health needs of their local population and should continue to ensure there is appropriate access to ear wax services.