Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of preventative impact of ear wax removal on the NHS for children presenting with hearing loss.

In line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, an adult or child may require ear wax removal treatment if the build-up of earwax is linked with hearing loss. A general practice could then consider referring the patient into audiology services. The patient's clinician is best placed to make this assessment. The NICE has published guidelines on hearing loss, and specifically on ear wax removal treatment, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng98/chapter/Recommendations#removing-earwax