Your article about ear health (Get plugs and never remove wax at home, 24 June) didn’t reflect the huge impact on some people’s lives of the withdrawal of NHS earwax removal services in many areas.
Cornwall is one of the areas of the country where you now have to pay privately to have earwax safely removed. The cost of this can be considerable for those on limited incomes, which causes some to undertake dangerous procedures themselves to clear their wax, or go to an unregulated and possibly dangerous practitioner, or simply live with reduced hearing.
The double whammy is that you can’t get an NHS hearing check – and thus NHS-funded hearing aids if you need them – or access to other treatment unless you have had your earwax removed at your own expense. RNID, the national hearing-loss charity, has published a report, Stop the Block, highlighting the issue.
As your article rightly says, people need good hearing to stay socially connected. Without good-quality social interactions, people can become withdrawn, isolated, depressed and ill.
The withdrawal in many areas of this apparently minor service to remove earwax is having a serious impact on some people’s lives. The free NHS service must be reinstated for everyone.
Marna Blundy
West Cornwall HealthWatch
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