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Health Professions (Hearing Aid Dispensers) Order 2009

My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness for introducing the order to the Committee in such a clear and comprehensive way. Like the noble Earl, Lord Howe, I do not intend to trouble your Lordships for long. That said, I have indicated on previous occasions that I have a personal interest in this subject, being the child of someone who has been reliant on National Health Service hearing aids for approximately 70 years. Consequently, it has long been my concern that people who are losing their hearing have sometimes gone to the private sector in desperation. There has always been concern about the level of service; by that I do not mean just issuing a prescription but the service provided to people in that situation. There is real pressure in this area. That pressure may be unique to the field of hearing aids; it does not apply to, for example, optical services. That pressure arises because much of the innovation occurs in the private sector. New technology comes to the private sector long before it comes to the NHS. Therefore, there is a commercial interest behind that. I do not for a moment want Members of your Lordships' Committee to think that I consider private dispensers do not have the interests of their clients at heart, as that is not the case. However, in view of what I have just said, I welcome this measure. I also pay tribute to the Hearing Aid Council for the work that it has done. It is commendable that a body should work so assiduously towards its own demise; that is very generous of it. It is right that the Hearing Aid Council, which did not have fitness to practise powers, should transfer its functions to the Health Professions Council. I noted what the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, said about the challenge that this presents to the Health Professions Council. It has previously protected titles, not functions. The functions that it will have to regulate in future were listed by the noble Baroness: assess, test and prescribe hearing aids. Does that definition include screening? Screening for the hearing impairment of children and adults is carried out in a large number of places and I want to be absolutely sure that those who carry it out are properly regulated. However, I am not clear whether that falls within this definition. Like the noble Earl, Lord Howe, I noted that there is an intention that private and public dispensers will be registered on a single register with a single set of standards. In my view that day cannot come soon enough. Everybody who suffers a hearing loss deserves the very best and consistent treatment. When do the Government envisage that that unification of registration will happen? I understand from the Hearing Aid Council that it is unlikely to happen until 2011, at least, even though the transfer will occur in 2010. I wish to see that development occur speedily. Like all the bodies and voluntary organisations that have worked on the unification, I think this is a very good measure and I wish it good speed.