The average maximum wait across:
- The UK as a whole: 36 weeks, twice the target that
has been set by the Government for England.
- England: Patients can expect to wait between 36
and 38 weeks.
- Scotland: The average wait is between 31 and 33
weeks (compared with 29 to 31 weeks last year).
- Wales: Patients may wait between 28 and 32 weeks.
The number of hospitals which exceed the UK average waiting time has
gone up, 36% have waiting lists longer than 36 weeks compared with just
25% a year ago.
The South East of England continues to be the worst place for patients
looking for their first NHS hearing aid, and is the only region in England
where waiting times have increased year on year. Now, people with hearing
loss will wait between 84 and 92 weeks for their assessment and the fitting
of a hearing aid, an increase of between 11 and 18 weeks on the year.
(Source: BSHAA’s report ‘Suffering In Silence 2007’.
The full report is available at www.bshaa.com)
Article posted: 21/01/2008
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