People are being forced to pay £80 for ear wax removal in Cornwall – Cornwall Live

Health campaigners have called for ear wax removal services to be provided at GP practices after finding people were having to pay up to £80 to get their ears cleaned.

West Cornwall Healthwatch and Hearing Loss Cornwall are just two of the organisations which have called on NHS Kernow to provide funding for ear wax removal.

Traditionally people had been able to get appointments at their local GP surgery to have a nurse carry out ear wax removal for free.

However in recent years many surgeries have stopped the service as it was not being paid for by the clinical commissioning group (CCG) – Cornwall’s NHS funding body – while some have said they no longer have staff who can carry out the task.

But for some people getting their ears cleared of wax is a vital service as they can sometimes be left in pain or isolated because their hearing is affected.

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The issue was highlighted at a meeting of Cornwall Council’s health and adults overview and scrutiny committee last year and NHS Kernow said that it would consider the service as part of a review of all services that it commissions.

This week NHS Kernow said its review was expected to be completed by September.

However Hearing Loss Cornwall said it was receiving an increasing number of distressing reports from people who have been unable to get ear wax removed and are unable to afford to pay for the service or get to the few locations where it is offered.

The charity is encouraging people who have been affected to get in touch and share their experiences and also to fill out an online survey set up by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID).

Clare Greenwood, executive officer for Hearing Loss Cornwall, said: “We have heard some distressing stories of this service not being an option through most GP clinics in Cornwall. People have complained that they are in pain, can’t have their ears checked without having the wax removed and many of the private providers have not been offering their services. They are also expensive and there are not many providers of this service in Cornwall.”

One of the key issues for people is that if they go for a routine hearing check they might not be able to have their appointment if it is found that they need to have …….

Source: https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/people-being-forced-pay-80-5464072