01 October 2015

NCHA represents community hearing at party conferences

The National Community Hearing Association (NCHA) is once again raising awareness about hearing loss at the highest political level in the UK.

The NCHA is representing the hearing sector and taking key messages directly to local and national policy decision makers at the major party conferences.

The strong message the NCHA is delivering to MP’s is that:

• hearing loss is the sixth leading cause of years live with disability in the UK
• community hearing care is helping people to stay independent in their community for longer, supporting active ageing, and
• there is an urgent need for action if the UK is to tackle unmet hearing need and the costs of unsupported hearing loss.

The NCHA and primary care partners met with MPs, peers and local councillors at the Labour Party Conference last week and will be attending the Conservative Party Conference on 4^th – 7^thOctober.

David Hewlett, National Community Hearing Association (NCHA) Chief Executive said, “The NCHA represents community hearing at the highest level.

“This year is critical. We have so many positive updates to share, including the NHS’ Action Plan on Hearing Loss, co-production of a National Commissioning Framework for England, Monitor's glowing report on choice in local hearing services and our national commissioning guidance and community-based dataset.

“We also have to raise awareness about worsening health inequalities, especially as some outlier CCGs continue to take shortcuts that short change local populations rather than focusing on delivering high quality community services that sustainably serve local needs ."

The NCHA is attending the party conferences alongside Pharmacy Voice and the Optical Confederation to raise awareness about the role community providers across primary care can play in delivering more care out of hospital and designing services around patient needs, preferences and clinical outcomes.

Further resources:

1. NHS 5 year forward view

2. Monitor Hearing Care Review

3. Breakthrough for NHS Hearing Care - Action Plan on Hearing Loss

4. NCHA outcomes