Row over implant funding refusal

A GP believes health chiefs are operating a "postcode lottery" by funding only one cochlear implant for her 11-month-old deaf child.

Hampshire Primary Care Trust will pay for one £33,000 implant for Ellie Wheatley, of Winchester, in Hampshire.

But it will not fund a second one, costing £18,000, because new guidelines no longer recommend bilateral implants.

The trust said it would review any new evidence. Ellie's mother, Christine Wheatley, said Ellie will be at risk.

Battling to get what she [Ellie] needs has been the worst part of the last nine months Dr Christine Wheatley

Dr Wheatley, 35, and Ellie's father, Ed, claim their child will be unable to hear the direction of sounds, be at risk on the roads and struggle at school.

Dr Wheatley said that other PCTs in London, Bradford and Nottingham do offer bilateral implants and therefore her daughter is falling victim to a "postcode lottery".

The cochlear implants stimulate inner ear nerves on profoundly deaf people with electrical signals which the brain then learns to interpret as sounds.

But it does not restore hearing.

The draft guidelines from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is no longer recommending bilateral implants for all pre-lingual children.

The final guidelines are due to be published next month and this situation means some authorities will fund bilateral operations even though they do not have to.

As a result, PCTs across the country are adopting different approaches.

"Ellie has undergone nine months of assessments and the clinicians at the Cochlear Implant Centre in Southampton support bilateral implants for her," said Dr Wheatley.

Future appeal

"I believe the PCT only considered the extra cost of a second implant, not how much less her education will cost if she has both ears operated on now.

"We believe that morally Ellie should have the operation on the NHS.

"Looking after Ellie is a joy and a pleasure but battling to get what she needs has been the worst part of the last nine months."

A spokesman for Hampshire Primary Care Trust said: "The current recommendations from NICE support unilateral implants for children and adults with severe to profound deafness.

"However, under these guidelines, bilateral cochlear implantation is restricted to certain conditions, including children and adults who are blind."