Cochlear implants discussed in Westminster

An adjournment debate on the provision of Cochlear Implants was held on 24th March when Jim Fitzpatrick, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Deafness at Westminster, spoke about the low take up of cochlear implants by adults compared with other countries. Brian Lamb, the Chair of the Action Group on Adult Cochlear Implantation had provided a Brief, and Mr Fitzpatrick used the report “Spend to Save: increasing hearing technology improves lives and saves society money” by Brian Lamb, Sue Archbold and Ciaran O’Neill, which was launched in Westminster. The impact of hearing loss was stressed, and how the provision of cochlear implantation can transform lives for deaf people. He questioned the Under Secretary of State for Health, David Mowat, about the stringency of the NICE criteria, and their need for revision, together with the need to ensure that no age discrimination takes place in provision.

The Minister said: “We will make sure that the fact that cochlear implants can make such a radical difference to people’s lives is emphasised with GPs….”. He also commented very favourably on The Ear Foundation report available from http://www.earfoundation.org.uk/research/current-research/adult-strategy-reports and the WHO recent reports: “Global costs of unaddressed hearing loss and cost-effectiveness of interventions” and “Action for hearing loss” available from http://www.who.int/pbd/deafness/world-hearing-day/2017/en/

The reports from Parliament at https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2017-03-24/debates/0154C58F-7CC8-4D67-92E0-D7873386BFCC/CochlearImplantation