Councillor challenges cost-saving measure
REVOKING free NHS hearing aids for some people may have left them more isolated during lockdown, a councillor has suggested.
In 2015 North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group became the first in the country to end the provision of free aids to most people with ‘mild’ hearing loss in order to save money.
A consultation which could result in the controversial policy being rolled out across Stoke-on-trent and Staffordshire was suspended in March due to the pandemic.
Now scrutiny committee members at Staffordshire County Council have raised concerns over what impact North Staffordshire CCG’S decision may have had on individuals in Newcastle and Staffordshire Moorlands during the lockdown.
Leek South councillor Charlotte Atkins, shadow vice chairwoman of the Healthy Staffordshire select committee, asked whether the CCGS were taking into account the impact of virtual meetings and mask-wearing on hearing impaired people.
She said: “What assessment have you made of the impact of that decision over the last four-and-a-half years? And how are you looking at it now, in respect of the impact of Covid-19 on your assessment of the cost-effectiveness of providing NHS hearing aids, given the increased isolation that people with deafness will have felt in lockdown?
“Those of us who have got reasonable hearing have been using things like the telephone, virtual meetings and also the fact that people are wearing face coverings – has that impacted on the assessment you’ve made on the importance of NHS hearing aids?”
Ms Atkins also asked how much money North Staffordshire CCG’S decision on hearing aids had saved since 2015.
The policy change removed eligibility for Nhs-funded hearing aids for individuals with a mild hearing loss, defined as less than 41 decibels. The policy does not affect certain groups, such as children or people who have had hearing loss since childhood.
As part of the ‘Difficult Decisions’ engagement, the other five Staffordshire CCGS are reviewing their funding of hearing aids, along with four other areas of care - IVF, sterilisation, breast augmentation, and removal of skin after weight loss.
The CCGS say that there are currently no proposals and no decisions have been taken.
Marcus Warnes, accountable officer for the Staffordshire CCGS, said commissioners would consider the impact of the hearing aids policy on people in North Staffordshire.
But he suggested that the increased use of video conferencing tools, such as Microsoft Teams, may have actually benefited hearing impaired people.
Mr Warnes said: “The issues around the impact on people since 2015 is something we would want to understand, so the engagement will allow us to assess that. That will influence any change in policy going forward.
“The question of whether during Covid this subset of the population has been affected more than others – I think one interesting thing about doing things through Teams is people can actually hear what you say.
“We do have people with hearing impairments who when they’re using Teams feel like they can actually hear what’s being said.
“So I think the technology we’re using has probably helped communication rather than hindered it. I think the point around people wearing face masks – yes, the feedback we’ve been getting is that people with hearing impairment, who rely partly or wholly on lip-reading, are finding it difficult. I don’t have an answer to that at the moment.”
The CCGS do not yet know when they will be able to resume the public consultation on Difficult Decisions but it is unlikely to be before next year.
Mr Warnes said: “We’ll be resuming the consultation when it’s safe to do so. We don’t have a timeframe for that at the moment.”
Mr Warnes told the commitee that he would give councillors details on how much the policy had saved, and also agreed to provide them with the feedback from the first part of the consultation.