A resource for everyone
2ears2hear is a resource for everyone with an interest in bilateral cochlear implants and the importance of securing NHS funding.
In England and Wales, an appraisal by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has reached it's final stage of consultation with the publication of their 2nd appraisal consultation document (March 2008). In it, the appraisal committee have back-tracked on their first draft recommendation of simultaneous bilateral CI implantation for all pre-lingually deafened babies and young children.
Cochlear implantation (CIs) is a vital technology providing access to sound for children and adults who are too deaf to benefit from hearing aids. But, unlike hearing aids, most NHS patients have been given just one cochlear implant (CI) despite the fact that all of us need two ears to hear fully. The UK has fallen behind many other countries where two (bilateral) CIs – one for each ear – are routine, in recognition of the importance of two-sided (binaural) hearing.
For all severely and profoundly deaf people, bilateral CIs are vital for the ability to localise where sound is coming from and for better understanding of speech in background noise. They are an important development in removing the barriers between deaf people and the hearing world. Binaural hearing is vital in all settings, whether educational, work or social, and when it comes to being able to tell the direction of a car horn or a warning shout, it can be the difference between life and death.