Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) improve access to NHS hearing aids and (b) reduce waiting times for those aids by working with high street providers.

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for the provision of and access to hearing aids for mild to moderate hearing loss in the local population. In 2018, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued guidance, ‘Hearing loss in adults: assessment and management’, which aims to improve hearing loss services, including provision of hearing aids. The guidance brings together evidence, standards and case studies to encourage best practice across England. We expect CCGs to have regard to NICE’s guidance when commissioning National Health Service audiology services.

NHS Supply Chain is the main provider of equipment and consumables to the NHS. However, NHS providers are free to source from other suppliers.