Long wait for hearing aid upgrade

Mr Margett will have to wait 30 months for a digital hearing aid

The NHS waiting list for a hearing aid upgrade is more than two years in some parts of the East Midlands.

The wait in Derby is 30 months for patients who want to swap analogue hearing aids for digital ones.

The government target for the tests has been abandoned due to other priorities, health officials said.

The waiting list at the Leicester Royal Infirmary is 27 months, but only three months in Nottingham where the backlog has already been tackled.

I have paid my way - my taxes and now I feel let down Maurice Margett, Derbyshire pensioner

About 600,000 people have some sort of hearing problems in the East Midlands.

Dianne Prescott, of Derby Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "There is a lot of pressure for cancer drugs and the PCTs have said they are making the move to digital from analogue - but they can't put more money into it to make the transition quicker."

A spokesperson from the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust said it was waiting to hear if it had been allocated any capital funding to replace analogue hearing aids this year from the strategic health authority.

Elaine Hodkinson, service manager for hearing services at the trust, said: "As soon as we have confirmation of the funding available we will be able to reduce the waiting list quite considerably, once patients have had their hearing re-assessed.

"We have a new system for fitting digital hearing aids in place which means we are able to see 27 patients in a morning session compared with 9 previously."

'Frustrating'

The upgrade to digital hearing aids takes three appointments and more than two and a half hours to complete.

Maurice Margett, 77, of Ripley in Derbyshire, said he feels let down because he will have to wait years for his new hearing aid.

"I have paid my way - and I have paid my taxes and now I feel let down," Mr Margett said.

His wife Eileen said the waiting lists are too long, adding: "It is frustrating because he can't hear me when I call him."

Mr Margett lost his old analogue hearing aid on a recent fishing trip and can have a like-for-like replacement but not a new digital version.

"It is frustrating because he can't hear me when I call him", his wife Eileen said.

'Challenging year'

Some patients are paying up to £1,000 at private clinics because they are not willing to wait for NHS appointments.

Sarah Barlow, hearing clinic manager in Derby, said: "It is difficult because not everyone can afford the prices I have to charge (at a private clinic) to keep my business ticking over - there is a two-tier system in place."

The Central and Greater Derby PCTs said in a statement that it has already fitted 4,200 digital aids to patients who have been assessed for the first time and 2,600 digital aids to replace analogue aids.

But it added: "The PCTs' financial position is challenging this year and we have been unable to prioritise the considerable amount of funding required to exchange analogue hearing aids for digital aids."