Sally Jameson

That goes to show that this is a widespread issue. This is happening not just in Doncaster, but further afield, and thousands upon thousands of people have been impacted. At one stage, the audiology service at Doncaster royal infirmary temporarily shut down. While some of the emergency cases and children’s cases were reallocated to neighbouring services, a lot of people were left with pretty much nothing. They were totally uncertain about when, or even if, they would receive an appointment. The impact on the hard-of-hearing community in my area has been truly devastating. Waiting lists have grown well into the thousands, and many people have felt isolated and forgotten. During this difficult period, the integrated care board and the Doncaster and Bassetlaw hospital trust have worked to improve the service, but as my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (Jo White) has pointed out, that took a lot of time. Alongside campaigners Maggie and Paul, who formed the Doncaster Audiology Action Group, and my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher), we held regular meetings with the NHS to press for action. With the support of the fantastic Healthwatch team, an audiology action event was held last month, giving residents the opportunity to access information about the service and receive basic hearing aid repairs, as well as to speak directly to stakeholders and support services. There is still a long way to go; the waiting list is still too long. Constituents contact me, and there are times when I can contact the hospital and we manage to speed up treatment, but not in all cases. Eighteen months on, improvements are beginning to show. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the dedicated audiology team at Doncaster royal infirmary, who have worked tirelessly to try to turn the service around. However, this experience has shown me just how important audiology services are, yet how often they are overlooked.