People waiting for earwax removal in England are facing an NHS ‘postcode lottery’

People with a build-up of earwax are left with hearing loss and social isolation as an NHS ‘postcode lottery’ removes it, a new report claims.

Earwax removal services have declined so dramatically that 9.8 million people in England now no longer have access to NHS help, forcing some to pay an “earwax tax” for private treatments.

The report from the RNID hearing loss charity also found that more than half of NHS commissioners are breaking official guidance by failing to ensure all adults have access to care.

The RNID, formerly the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, said the ‘horrifying’ findings highlight the misery suffered by people who cannot have their earwax removed.

“Earwax build-up can cause painful and distressing symptoms – such as hearing loss, tinnitus and earache – and lead to social isolation and poor mental health,” the RNID said.

“Poor service provision across England has left many people living in silence or being forced to pay for private removals,” the report said. Non-NHS providers charge £50-£100 per wax extraction visit. Older people and people who wear hearing aids are most likely to develop buildup.

Only 18 (43%) of the 42 NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) offer the full wax removal service to all adults in their area, as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommends, Freedom of Information requests submitted by the RNID showed.

Fifteen other ICBs offer more limited access, sometimes only to those over 55, but seven offer no care at all.

“There is no medical reason for the withdrawal of this essential service. It is absolutely wrong that people in England who need earwax removal to hear and participate in everyday life are left to suffer painful and debilitating symptoms, forced to seek private treatment, or risk dangerous self-removal methods. said Victoria Boelman, the charity’s director of insight and policy.

Until 2019, almost anyone in England with a build-up of earwax in their ear could have it removed by visiting their GP, usually by a practice nurse. However, since then there has been a dramatic erosion in the availability of the service, despite an aging population.

That has prompted people to go private or remove wax themselves using hair clips, paperclips, toothpicks, cotton buds or ear candles, the RNID warned.

Around 2.3 million people in the UK need to have their earwax removed regularly, Nice said.

The charity also claimed that NHS advice to patients on how to get rid of earwax – through the use of ear drops or sprays – is “often incomplete, potentially unsafe and not based on evidence”. Four in five people don’t get rid of their laundry using such methods, it added.

NHS England declined to comment directly on the widespread lack of access or the RNID’s concerns about the advice given to patients.

A spokesperson said only that: “The NHS has information available online at nhs.uk about the safety of earwax and people can go to their local pharmacy for advice without a prescription.

“Integrated Care Board (ICB) commissioning teams should ensure that information about earwax removal services is made available locally so that patients can be directed or referred to the most appropriate NHS services if symptoms persist after self-care methods.”