Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to (a) improve and (b) invest in services supporting people with tinnitus.

Commissioning of hearing services, including support for people with tinnitus, takes place at a local level based on the needs of the local population. We expect commissioners to follow relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, including the NICE guideline [NG155] Tinnitus: assessment and management.

In addition, the Action Plan on Hearing Loss (2015) sets out key objectives on hearing loss and related hearing conditions including tinnitus: prevention, early diagnosis, maximising independence, and enabling people to take part in everyday activities.

A large group of people with tinnitus will also benefit from reassurance and advice. Some people with distressing tinnitus may need to access a range of further specialist support through their local National Health Service hearing services that could include counselling, sound therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, which aims to retrain the way people respond to tinnitus.