26 July 2024

NCHA member update - 26 July

This month:

• MoD agreement opens door for hearing loss claims
• Breakthrough in quest for internal cochlear implants
• Gladiator's ‘Fury' selected as Paralympics commentator  
• Hearing restored in mice with genetic deafness
• Ears to the ground
• Health policy

MoD agreement opens door for hearing loss claims

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is likely to receive thousands more compensation claims from military veterans who have suffered hearing loss and tinnitus while in service.

Following a new court agreement, the MoD formally acknowledged its "duty of care" towards veterans. It says that people discharged from duty after 1987 could be eligible for compensation if they prove their hearing loss relates to time in service.

The MoD's acceptance could open the door for many veterans whose hearing loss claims had previously been rejected on the grounds that other noise sources were to blame, they should have used ear protection or they made their claims too late. Read the full story.

Breakthrough in quest for internal cochlear implants

Researchers in the US have produced a tiny, implantable microphone that could lead to the first fully implantable cochlear implants.

The UmboMic device is a miniscule microphone made from 'piezoelectric' material, which can transfer the smallest mechanical movements of the eardrum into electrical energy. The researchers from MIT, Mass Eye and Ear in Boston, Harvard Medical School and Columbia University have also developed a low-noise amplifier that enhances the signal while minimising noise interference.

Today's cochlear implants rely on sound processors typically positioned externally on the side of the head. As a result, the users lose the sound localisation cues that the outer ear's structure provides.

The researchers tested the UmboMic in the middle-ear bones of cadavers and found robust performance within the intensity and frequency range of human speech. The next phase will be a live animal study. Read more.

Gladiator's 'Fury' selected as Paralympics commentator

Jodie Ounsley, the first Deaf contestant in Gladiators, has announced that she will join the Channel 4 broadcasting team to cover the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

Ounsley, a former professional rugby player, was fitted with a cochlear implant at 14 months old. She posted a picture of herself on Facebook against the backdrop of the Arc de Triomphe. She said she hoped to "learn from some of the best in the business whilst watching and reporting on some incredible athletes chasing their dreams". She describes her deafness as her superpower.

Hearing restored in mice with genetic deafness

Researchers have prevented the deterioration of hearing in mice known to have a form of progressive hearing loss by using a gene editing technique to replace the faulty gene. 

The researchers from the Mass Eye and Ear hearing research centre in the US led the team. They introduced gene editing by injecting an adeno-associated virus into the mice during early development and adulthood. They demonstrated the robust preservation of hearing in both groups. 

DFNA50 deafness in humans is an autosomal dominant non-syndromic hearing loss. Onset typically occurs after language has developed, in the second decade of life. The progressive hearing loss is caused by a mutation in the MIRN96 gene on chromosome 7q32. Mouse and human microRNAs have identical sequences. 

The team has also conducted clinical trials with researchers in China looking at a gene therapy approach for another form of deafness, DFNB9, which is caused by mutations in the gene that codes for otoferline. Read more.

Ears to the ground

• Hearing-aid dispensers have until 31 July 2024 to complete their HCPC registration renewal.
• Growing audiology clinic hopes to become healthcare hub. Read the full story.
• Audiologist Azza Al-Maskari writes about the impact of deafness on child development. Read more.
• The boxer Balraj Khara talks to Sky Sports about competing with a hearing impairment.

Health policy

"From today, the policy of this department is that the NHS is broken", said Wes Streeting, the new secretary of state for health and social care, after Labour won the general election.

Mr Streeting made his first significant policy announcement during a GP visit with Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive officer of NHS England. He committed to shifting resources to primary care and community services to help tackle long waiting lists and pressure on hospitals.
 
The Department of Health and Social Care made the following appointments:

• Stephen Kinnock MP, minister of state for social care.
• Karin Smyth MP, minister of state for health (secondary care).
• Andrew Gwynne MP, parliamentary under-secretary of state for public health and prevention
• Baroness Merron, parliamentary under-secretary of state for patient safety, women's health and mental health.

The health secretary appointed Professor Lord Darzi, a surgeon and former Labour minister, to lead an independent investigation into the performance of the NHS. Sally Warren, the director of policy at The King's Fund, and Paul Corrigan, a Blair-era health adviser, will join him.

The Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) published a report saying it will help the government "build an NHS fit for the future". The IHPN supports patient choice and money following the patient, so the NHS does "not pay twice" because of block contracts. 

The IHPN said opinion polls showed that the Labour commitment to using spare capacity in the independent sector to tackle waiting lists was "one of the most popular policies", with 64% of people in favour.

A statement from the NCHA calls on the new government to end inequalities in access to ear and hearing care by transforming the nation's hearing health.