Share your views on the future of North Staffs and Stoke-on-Trent hearing aid provision
There’s still time to share your views on the future of hearing aid provision in North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
Six NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, want to hear from members of the public as part of their ‘Difficult Decisions’ consultation about the way in which they provide hearing aids.
The CCGs are:
- Cannock Chase Clinical Commissioning Group
- East Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group
- North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group South
- East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula Clinical Commissioning Group
- Stafford and Surrounds Clinical Commissioning Group
- Stoke-on-Trent Clinical Commissioning Group
In January 2020, the CCGs began an eight-week consultation process to assess five services in the region, including the provision of hearing aids for adults.
Currently these services are delivered differently in each of the different CCGs, and the aim of the consultation was to find a way to deliver these consistently across the counties.
However, the consultation was paused in early 2020 while all local health services focused on supporting efforts to manage the Coronavirus pandemic.
Recently, they recommenced engagement with the local communities regarding its hearing aid provision and the other services being considered.
Responses collected from their 2020 consultation exercise, plus any new information that needs to be considered from this latest survey, will be put forward to the CCGs to shape their proposals.
The key points they are seeking feedback on include:
- Do you think the hearing aid provision for adults should be funded by the NHS?
- If yes, how do we ensure provision is fair for all patients?
- What is the impact of hearing loss in adults on communication
- Any restrictions faced as a result of any hearing impairment.
The consultation will then move into its second phase (involvement) and possible solutions for each of the affected services and final proposals will be developed for each of the services being considered.
If you are from the local area or would like to make sure your views are known, you can complete the survey at: https://nhs.researchfeedback.net/s.asp?k=163110263943. Please choose Hearing Loss in Adults when prompted in the survey.
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People (and Hearing Link) is a member of the Hearing Loss and Deafness Alliance which is made up of 32 organisations spanning the public and private sector. The Alliance has been engaged in this consultation process and has responded to this consultation.