New Guidelines To Prescribe Hearing Aids At First Opportunity

The health watchdog NICE has introduced new guidelines which is urging doctors to prescribe hearing aids for people when they show the first sign of hearing loss. At present many GP`s, under pressure from their hard up health boards, do not prescribe them for people who even have moderate hearing loss, instead asking them to learn lip reading to cope with their disability.

9 Million People Affected By Hearing Loss In The UK

As we have previously mentioned in our blog posts, hearing loss is a big problem for huge swathes of the population, which affects around 9 million people here in the UK. Hearing loss can often lead to loneliness and isolation from friends and family, which can in turn speed up the descent into dementia.

NICE have found that the standard of care for people who have various levels of hearing loss varies widely from area to area, with some cash strapped health boards very reticent in offering hearing aids to people, although these new guidelines may help in this respect if the guidelines are properly followed across the country.

It is claimed that only one third of the people who actually would benefit from a hearing aid actually have one, and of these people many would be better having two devices fitted rather than just the one.

Hearing Aids Should Be Provided To All Who Need Them

Speaking of these new measures, Paul Breckell, chief executive of Action on Hearing Loss is quoted in the Daily Mail as saying: 'We campaigned for the existence of a NICE guideline on hearing loss and the recent publication is hugely welcome, as is their clear acknowledgement that treatment must be based on need and not on arbitrary and often misleading hearing thresholds.

'NICE has stated in the strongest possible terms that hearing aids - the only available treatment for the majority of those living with hearing loss - should be provided to all who need them and that restricting provision raises serious questions of inequality of access.'

If you want expert and professional advice on your hearing you can of course call into Lisburn Hearing Centre where you can have a free hearing test, for more details please give us a call on 028 9264 0302.