Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps has his Department taken to help ensure that ICBs have policies in place to ensure that patients get access to cochlear implants in line with revisions made to NICE guidance in March 2019.

The Department does not hold data on the number of children and adults who were fitted with unilateral and bilateral cochlear implants in each of the last eight years.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to meet the reasonable requirements of their local populations. This includes determining the most appropriate model of care for cochlear implants, taking account of clinical safety, access, quality, value for money, and the availability of alternative pathways. The Health and Care Act 2022 provides that each integrated care board may arrange for the provision of services or facilities as it considers appropriate for the purposes of the health service.