Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects transfer devices that enable people with single-sided deafness to hear sounds from their deaf ear in their other ear to be available through the NHS.

The information requested on the number of people with single-sided deafness is not available in the format requested. However, the following table shows the number of patients admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of single-sided deafness in the last five years in England.

This data may include the same person being admitted to hospital on more than one occasion and the data excludes diagnoses that were made outside of secondary care.

The Action Plan on Hearing Loss was jointly published in March 2015 by the Department and NHS England. It sets out the case for taking action on the rising prevalence and personal, social and economic costs of uncorrected hearing loss and the variation in access and quality of services experienced by people with hearing loss.

Transfer devices are available through the NHS. NHS England is developing commissioning guidance on the provision of hearing loss services, as part of its commitments in the Action Plan on Hearing Loss. The guidance will support clinical commissioning groups when making local decisions and help improve equality of access and patient experience.