Guidance & policy resources

Members will find a wide range of guidance and policy resources below. These have been published by the NHS and other public bodies and provide helpful background material when considering service design and care. Members should read this page alongside our summary of key NICE guidelines and our research log.

Population health

The NCHA has worked in partnership with the NHS and other stakeholders to co-produce the following resources, with the goal of assessing and meeting hearing needs.

Although these documents are written for England, the lessons are generalisable to the rest of the UK.

The NCHA’s policy team has also worked in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO, contributing to the WHO’s Ear and Hearing Survey Handbook 2020. The handbook enables countries to gather data by planning and implementing population-based epidemiological surveys.

Hearing loss and tinnitus in adults

Access key publications from the Department of Health and NHS on hearing loss and tinnitus in adults.

Hearing loss in children and young adults

Access key publications from the Department of Health, the NHS and NDSC on hearing loss in childhood and transition.

Key policy documents

In this section you will find key health policy publications that have reviewed hearing care in the UK.

Balance

Archived guidance

Access documents now superseded by new guidance.

Updates

Originally published: 2016

Reviewed: December 2025

Next review date: December 2028

Reference and notes

This guidance was last reviewed in December 2025. The next review date is December 2028.

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