VAT is a broad-based tax, and the Government keeps all taxes under review. Under existing rules, certain medical devices may qualify for a reduced or zero rate of VAT when supplied for the personal use of a disabled person or for use in qualifying healthcare or charitable settings, subject to meeting the relevant statutory conditions. While the Government recognises the impact tinnitus can have on individuals, there are no current plans to introduce a specific VAT exemption for class 1 medical devices used to suppress its effects, and any changes would need to be considered in the context of the wider tax system and the potential cost to the Exchequer.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and seeks advice from the Commission on Human Medicines, the MHRA’s independent advisory committee, where appropriate, to inform regulatory decisions, including amending the product information.

The MHRA has received a total of 11,348 United Kingdom reports through the Yellow Card scheme associated with reaction term tinnitus, including worsening of tinnitus, from 1 January 2014 up to and including 27 November 2025. The table in the document attached provides a yearly breakdown of reports associated with tinnitus. It also provides a yearly breakdown of reports received by the substance associated with tinnitus. Please note that each report may list more than one suspect drug. Therefore, the total number of reports received cannot be accurately derived from the figures presented in the table in the attached document. The following table shows a yearly breakdown of reports associated with tinnitus received from 1 January 2014 up to and including 27 November 2025:

It is important to note that anyone can report to the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme and the recording of these reports in the Yellow Card database does not necessarily mean that the adverse reactions have been caused by the suspect drug. Many factors must be considered in assessing causal relationships, including temporal association, the possible contribution of concomitant medication, and the underlying disease. We encourage reporters to report suspected adverse reaction reports, and the reporter does not have to be sure of a causal association between the drug and the reactions, as a suspicion will suffice.

The number of reports received cannot be used as a basis for determining the incidence of a reaction, as neither the total number of reactions occurring, nor the number of patients using the drug, is known.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses the available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and seeks advice from the Commission on Human Medicines, the MHRA’s independent advisory committee, where appropriate, to inform regulatory decisions, including amending the product information.

The MHRA has received a total of 11,348 United Kingdom based reports through the Yellow Card scheme associated with reaction term tinnitus, including worsening of tinnitus, from 1 January 2014 up to and including 27 November 2025. The reports received between 2014 and 2025 were for a wide range of medicinal products which include antidepressants, hormonal medicines, vaccines, antipsychotics, antibiotics, cardiovascular medicines, drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, sedatives, drugs used to treat dementia and diabetes, drugs used to treat osteoporosis, Parkinson’s disease, and pain. The following table shows a yearly breakdown of reports associated with tinnitus, from 2014 to 2025, and in total:

It is important to note that anyone can report to the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme and the recording of these reports in the Yellow Card database does not necessarily mean that the adverse reactions have been caused by the suspect drug. Many factors must be considered in assessing causal relationships, including temporal association, the possible contribution of concomitant medication, and the underlying disease. We encourage reporters to report suspected adverse reaction reports, and the reporter does not have to be sure of a causal association between the drug and the reactions, as a suspicion will suffice.

The number of reports received cannot be used as a basis for determining the incidence of a reaction, as neither the total number of reactions occurring, nor the number of patients using the drug, is known. All fatal reports, including those reporting completed suicide, are assessed by the MHRA, and cumulative information is reviewed at regular intervals.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Department does not hold information in the format requested.

The Department does not hold information on this particular condition. However, the latest published data on the waiting list for Ear, Nose and Throat, which includes those waiting for tinnitus treatment, stood at 4,492 in the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust as of May 2025. This represents a 2.8% reduction compared to the start of July 2024.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) invests £1.5 billion per year on health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). We are committed to funding timely research that leads to improved outcomes for patients and the public and makes the health and social care system more efficient, effective and safe. Research evidence is vital for improving treatments and outcomes for people, including those who experience hearing problems and tinnitus

Over the past five financial years (2019/20 – 2023/24), the NIHR has invested £3.3 million across 14 studies on these research topics directly through NIHR research programmes, with a further £1.1 million invested in career development and capacity for new hearing loss researchers. NIHR allocated £47,943 for research concerning otitis media and otitis media with effusion research in the financial year 2023-24.

UKRI delivers a substantial portfolio of researcher-led projects. This includes biological, physiological, and mechanistic aspects that are applicable to many ear conditions. UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) also plays a key role in funding underpinning research which may not be attributable to a specific condition but will benefit medical research more generally.

MRC funds Doctoral Training Partnerships, a range of postgraduate training, in 2017-2024, MRC awarded £106, 564 for injury in blast-induced hearing loss and tinnitus research. In 2022 MRC also committed £1,014,670 for age-related hearing loss research, this project is active until 2025.

MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, supports two programmes of work that investigate the neural and cognitive mechanisms of hearing and speech (https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MC_UU_00030%2F4 and https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MC_UU_00030%2F6), as well as providing funding in 2023/24 for research into the different types of hearing loss https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FX019217%2F1.

The Department does not hold information in this format. Tinnitus is a condition that can result in many different treatments, including medication, which are not all captured in the Waiting List Minimum Dataset.

As of November 2024, the waiting list for ear, nose and throat (ENT) stood at 633,270. This marked a decrease of 4,380 compared to October 2024. As of November 2024, 49.2% of pathways were within 18 weeks. Not all of the patients on the waiting list will have a “decision to treat”.

Tackling waiting lists, including in ENT, is a key part of our Health Mission, and we will deliver an additional two million operations, scans, and appointments during our first year in Government, which is equivalent to 40,000 per week, as a first step in our commitment to ensure that patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.

The Elective Reform Plan, launched as part of the Government’s Plan for Change, sets out how we will get back to the NHS Constitutional Standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by the end of this Parliament, whilst also ensuring that patients have the best possible experience of care. The Elective Reform Plan also commits to reforming clinical pathways to improve efficiency in five priority specialties, one of which is ENT.

Commissioning of hearing services, including support for people with tinnitus, takes place at a local level based on the needs of the local population. We expect commissioners to follow relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, including the NICE guideline [NG155] Tinnitus: assessment and management.

In addition, the Action Plan on Hearing Loss (2015) sets out key objectives on hearing loss and related hearing conditions including tinnitus: prevention, early diagnosis, maximising independence, and enabling people to take part in everyday activities.

A large group of people with tinnitus will also benefit from reassurance and advice. Some people with distressing tinnitus may need to access a range of further specialist support through their local National Health Service hearing services that could include counselling, sound therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, which aims to retrain the way people respond to tinnitus.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including tinnitus, it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

The NIHR’s support for tinnitus research was over £1.5 million between 2016/17 and 2021/22. This included funding for research projects and funding for NIHR managed infrastructure to support tinnitus research. Current NIHR funding includes £15 million over five years from April 2017 to support deafness and hearing loss research in NIHR’s Manchester, University College London and Nottingham Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs). The Nottingham BRC has a core research theme on tinnitus and noise sensitivity.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Department has not made an estimate.

The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including tinnitus. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. Information on individual projects funded by the NIHR can be found at the following link:

https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/

The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including tinnitus. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. Information on individual projects funded by the NIHR can be found at the following link:

https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/

NIHR support for tinnitus research was over £1.8 million between 2015/16 and 2019/20. This included funding for research projects, and funding for NIHR managed infrastructure to support tinnitus research. Current NIHR funding includes £15 million over five years from April 2017 to support deafness and hearing loss research in NIHR’s Manchester, University College London, and Nottingham Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs). The Nottingham BRC has a core research theme on tinnitus and noise sensitivity.

The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including tinnitus. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. Information on individual projects funded by the NIHR can be found at the following link:

https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/

The NIHR’s support for tinnitus research was over £1.8 million between 2015/16 and 2019/20. This included funding for research projects, and funding for NIHR-managed infrastructure to support tinnitus research. Current NIHR funding includes £15 million over five years from April 2017 to support deafness and hearing loss research in the NIHR’s Manchester, University College London, and Nottingham Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs). The Nottingham BRC has a core research theme on tinnitus and noise sensitivity.

I am happy to pay tribute to the British Tinnitus Association, which has raised the issues this week—it is Tinnitus Week—for its research. I thank the noble Baroness for her question. I will be happy to write to her on the specifics of the tinnitus treatments. Of course, tinnitus is often linked with acoustic neuroma, hearing loss and a number of other conditions, including mental ill-health. There are some treatable causes, which GPs look for, but there can be others related to mental ill-health. The cause of tinnitus is unknown; it cannot be treated. Talking therapy will be prescribed, and a lot of those treatments are already available on the NHS and on prescription. I am happy to send that information to the noble Baroness in writing.

There is obviously research available via the NIHR. We spend more than £90 million on NIHR research, and £15 million of this is spent via biomedical research centres at Manchester, UCL and Nottingham. Nottingham undertakes specific research into deafness and hearing problems, including tinnitus and hyperacusis. If the noble Baroness would like further detail, I am happy to write.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. Given that this condition causes enormous misery and is, we are told, incurable, and given that research has shown recently what a detrimental effect it can have on the mental health of sufferers, I have two questions for the Minister. I am very happy if she needs to write to me with the answers. First, how much is the NHS spending on research into the causes and cures of tinnitus? Secondly, if there are cures—if you google tinnitus, you will see that many products out there on social media claim to cure it—have any of these been approved? Are they in the system for approval? If so, when will they be available on prescription?

The noble Lord is absolutely right that contact should be made with a GP regarding hearing loss as soon as possible, that links between hearing loss and dementia have been found and that it is extremely important that we increase research in this area. That is exactly why I have asked officials to get together a round table regarding hearing loss and dementia to drive up research in this area as soon as possible.

My Lords, does the Minister endorse the views of many researchers, some of whom she has just mentioned, in their warning that listening to loud music—for example, in amplification, in front of speakers at rock concerts or in ear buds—could be an explosion waiting to happen in future generations? Secondly—this may apply to some noble Lords not yet afflicted—any slight loss of hearing should be dealt with sooner rather than later, because that research has also discovered that if you do not do something about it, it can possibly lead to dementia.