Edinburgh health: Pensioner losing his hearing forced to go private and paid £3,000 for hearing aids

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An Edinburgh pensioner who was losing his hearing as a result of having measles as a child says he was forced to go private after waiting over a year on the waiting list for a hearing test.

John Rowan, 68, then forked out more than £3,000 for hearing aids so that he could take part in ordinary conversations. Now he says the NHS should review audiology waiting lists to give priority to people whose hearing is deteriorating.

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He said: "Every three years I've been invited for a hearing test. It was due in 2023, but they told me there was a 45-week waiting list.   I was telling them my hearing had gone down, but I feel they weren't listening to me - it's just three years and then you join the waiting list, it wasn't based on an assessment of what your hearing is like."

John Rowan went private and had to pay over £3,000 for hearing aidsJohn Rowan went private and had to pay over £3,000 for hearing aids
John Rowan went private and had to pay over £3,000 for hearing aids | supplied

The Scottish Government target is a wait of no more than 18 weeks from referral to treatment. Mr Rowan was told his test would be in May 24, but it did not happen and he decided to go private a month or two later. 

He went to Edinburgh House of Hearing, had a test and paid for new hearing aids. "My hearing had changed so my NHS hearing aids were not working at all."

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Then in August he was invited for his NHS test and the audiologist confirmed his hearing had declined. "If I'd had my appointment when it was meant to be, they would have found my hearing had gone down and I would have got NHS hearing aids and not had to pay out of my own pocket."

Mr Rowan said he had had measles as a baby in the 1950s, but it was only when he was 50-plus that his hearing began to deteriorate. "Apparently it's years later that it affects you."

He said when he was on the waiting list, before deciding to go private, he feared becoming isolated due to his poor hearing and being unable to communicate. 

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"I'm an independent custody visitor with the police authority, so I have to have good hearing to listen to people.  I also do voluntary work with a homeless project and I need to hear well there too.”

He wants the Scottish Government and the NHS to look again at how waiting lists work "I'm hoping in future it won't just depened on when you happened to join the waiting list, but will be based on need and that's who will be given priority.

"Audiology doesn't get the high profile that cancer and other things, but losing your hearing is fundamentally a big issue. "I'm hoping the Scottish Government might change things and say people whose hearing has gone down should be taken quicker next time."

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Lothian Labour MSP Sarah Boyack, who took up Mr Rowan's case, said:  “Delays left Mr Rowan with severely diminished hearing and needing to pay out of pocket just to secure hearing aids.

“We can’t allow this crisis in our NHS to escalate any further. No one should lose their hearing because of NHS delays.  If they don’t address this crisis I fear cases such as Mr Rowan’s will only become more common.”

Health Secretary Neil Gray said he was sorry to hear of Mr Rowan’s experience.  “We do know that some people have had to wait longer than they should for appointments and referrals. That is not acceptable.

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“Services are facing sustained pressure, and this is not unique to Scotland - with similar challenges being felt right across the UK. This year’s Scottish Budget provides more than £19.5 billion for health and social care and an extra £500 million for frontline boards.

“We know that challenges remain, but we are determined to provide health boards with the support necessary to drive improvements.”

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