More people with hearing loss to benefit from cochlear implants

According to new guidance for England and Wales, hundreds more adults and children with profound hearing loss will have the option to be provided with cochlear implants.

The move has been welcomed by charities, adding that the previous guidance had been among ‘the strictest in the developed world’.

According to the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, an estimated 1,150 people in England will be entitled to cochlear implants each year by the year 2025, which is an increase from the 1,260 who currently have them.

Unlike hearing aids, cochlear implants turn sound into electrical signals and transmit them to a part of the inner ear called the cochlea. The signal then travels to the brain and is experienced as sounds. Hearing aids only make sounds louder.

Director of policy at Action on Hearing Loss’ Dr Roger Wicks, said he was encouraged by the changes to the guidance.

He added “Currently, just 5% of adults who could benefit from cochlear implants receive one. This is, in part, because the way people’s hearing function is currently assessed doesn’t reflect how speech is understood or heard in real life.

“Adults in England also need to have near-profound deafness to qualify currently, when research shows that cochlear implants may benefit people with lower levels of hearing loss.

“This has meant that many people have actually had to wait for their hearing to get worse before they can have access to this transformative treatment.”

understandable.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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