26 January 2024

NCHA member update – 26 January

This month:

• RNID calls on NHS to fix wax management crisis
• ENT report supports more community hearing care
• Hearing aids ‘may reduce dementia risk'
• New criminal record checks service
• Have your say
• BSA recommended procedures
• Other sector news
• Health policy

RNID calls on NHS to fix wax management crisis

The RNID has launched a campaign to improve access to ear-wax management services in England. 
 
In its latest report, the RNID reveals how the NHS is failing to meet the needs of millions of people with impacted ear wax. It calls on commissioners to investigate the current models and develop innovative ways to meet demand. 

Read the full story and NCHA response. 

ENT report supports more community hearing care

Hearing problems that do not require medical treatment should be managed outside the hospital, according to a new-year update on ENT outpatient waiting times.
 
New referrals to ENT still include many uncomplicated hearing problems, says the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) report, an NHS England collaboration designed to review and improve patient care.
 
"We must realise that we cannot offer a comprehensive ear and hearing health care service based in hospitals," the update states. "We must develop primary or intermediate services that can deal with the simple and recognise the more complex. Ideally, this would be in the community."
 
The NCHA supports providing hearing care closer to home in primary care and community settings.

Hearing aids 'may reduce dementia risk'

A Danish cohort study of more than half a million people carried out over eight years adds to evidence that hearing aids can prevent or delay the onset and progression of dementia. 
 
Hearing loss was associated with a 7% higher risk of dementia, the study found. People with hearing loss who were not using hearing aids were at considerably higher risk of dementia compared with people with hearing loss who used hearing aids.

New criminal record checks service

The NCHA has partnered with Vero Screening to offer practice owners a new criminal record checks service. The NCHA makes no commission - instead, members benefit from a discounted rate.

Alan Tinger, NCHA director of regulatory affairs, said: "Vero Screening's platform will help members save time when undertaking background checks. It will also save many of them money compared to what they pay today. Some members will make their own arrangements, so we designed our cost of checks guide to help everybody shop around and get the service that works for them."

Complete this form to get a quote from Vero.

Have your say

The NCHA is considering a name change to reflect who we are and what we do. We are also working on our strategy document. If you want to be involved, please write to [email protected].

BSA recommended procedures

The British Society of Audiology is seeking comments about its recommended procedure for pure-tone audiometry before it revises the document. The BSA is particularly interested in hearing where clinicians modify their practice relating to the guidance. Read more.

It has also published a new version of its recommended procedure for visual reinforcement audiometry in paediatric audiology.

Other sector news

• Researchers have discovered a deafness gene called TMTC4 that helps explain the mechanism of hair-cell death in the inner ear when people lose their hearing as they age. Read more.
• Gene therapy allows a boy with the otoferlin mutation to hear sounds for the first time, CBS News reports.
• A BMJ Public Health study has found that gamers risk permanent hearing loss and tinnitus due to prolonged exposure to sound at unsafe levels.
• Professional rugby player Jodie Ounsley represents the Deaf community as 'Fury' in the return of the BBC show Gladiators. Read more.

Health policy

Measles cases on the rise
Health officials have declared measles outbreaks a national incident, calling for rapid action to improve vaccination rates.

The UK Health Security Agency reported 1,603 suspected measles cases in England and Wales in 2023, more than double the number in 2022 and four times higher than in 2021.

The agency attributes the increase, which is most pronounced in London and the West Midlands, to a poor uptake of the MMR vaccination.

Measles can lead to serious medical consequences. In the US, hearing loss was observed in 5% to 10% of measles cases before the introduction of mass vaccination.

PSA seeks feedback on new fitness to practise guidance
The Professional Standards Authority has launched a consultation on two draft guidance documents to support healthcare professional regulators in using their new powers around rulemaking and fitness to practice. The deadline is 14 April.

The Government plans to change legislation for 9 out of the 10 healthcare professional regulators it oversees, including the HCPC, which regulates hearing aid dispensers and clinical scientists.

The new powers will allow regulators greater freedom to decide how they operate and create a new process for handling fitness-to-practice cases.