Vince Cable

At Question Time in Parliament on Tuesday, Vincent Cable will question Patricia Hewitt about the fact that of 10,000 residents waiting to hearing hearing aids replaced by digital sets only 1000 have so far been seen. The local Primary Care Trust argues however that the position is better here than elsewhere since in some areas the wait is 'indefinite'.

Vincent Cable said: "Five years ago, the government promised digital hearing aids for people with hearing difficulties and everyone who has received them confirms that they make a great deal of difference to the quality of sound".

"Yet our local centre, the West Middlesex, was one of the last to be brought into the national scheme and there are long delays.Some direct deferrals are being dealt with reasonably promptly but many others are waiting an inordinate time. The problem will also get worse since the government no longer requires audiology to be fitted within the 18 week waiting time target".

"What I shall be asking Ministers to do is to look at the model of spectacles, including NHS spectacles, are made available through high street opticians. Why can't fitting hearing aids - which require skilled technicians - be removed from the hospital system?"