Children waiting over two years for hearing aids

CHILDREN and adults are waiting more than two years to have a hearing aid fitted – a situation described as “life destroying” by one of the state’s largest lobby groups for deaf people.

According to the Health Service Executive the national average waiting time is two and a quarter years, although waiting periods vary across the country.

At times there are more than 11,000 people with suspected hearing impairments awaiting an assessment – the bulk of them children.