What steps is the Minister taking to tackle the waiting lists for hearing aid appointments in Wales?
Wales has long been a leader in hearing healthcare and NHS Wales audiology hearing care services are delivered differently to the rest of the UK with a much stronger emphasis on more treatment and care delivered in primary and community care, underpinned by prudent health care principles.
NHS Wales audiology services offer pathways integrated across health including memory assessment pathways, ENT, therapy services and GPs and with other agencies such as Social Services, Education and Third Sector. This is promoted by the Welsh Government Framework of Action for Hearing Loss and extends from initial assessment, hearing aids, screening through to diagnostics, cochlear implants, rehabilitation, and ongoing support for patients.
NHS Wales hearing service pathways are quality assured and delivered to Wales national standards across all primary and community and secondary care settings. This enables patient information to be shared between systems complementing the patient journey to enable the best possible outcome.
Building on the improvements made by the Framework of Action, our next step is to scope the future approach for audiology services over the next 12 months. This will help to set out plans and opportunities to progress further and align to the commitments set out in Welsh Government strategic documents, including Wales’ wider national reform of primary care to shift the delivery of services, where appropriate, from hospitals to primary care Clusters. Overall, this will improve access to hearing care and help to address the backlog of patient appointments and delay in follow-up for GPs and in hospitals.
The number of people waiting for a first fitting adult hearing aid has been increasing throughout 2023. This is primarily down to health boards redesigning their ENT pathways following Covid and this is having a direct effect on some audiology pathways but once complete this will extend services into primary care.
We are aware of the problems, and Welsh Government will continue to work with stakeholders to address them. This will include scoping the future approach, to further develop and improve NHS services. The aim is to implement transformational change and ensure high quality, integrated pathways are delivered aligned to Wales national Audiology Quality Standards. All health boards are committed to clearing the long waits to enable timely and direct access to hearing care for all patients when and where they need it.