Why won't they listen? (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Why won't they listen?

9:03am Thursday 7th August 2008 in

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A BITTER and angry Winchester mum has slammed a decision to deny her deaf baby a life-changing operation.

Christine Wheatley says she is incensed at a verdict last week by Hampshire Primary Care Trust to give her 11-month-old daughter funding for one cochlear implant, instead of two.

She says the decision means Ellie - who is in the bottom five per cent of the 390 profoundly deaf children born in this country last year - will be in danger in everyday situations, such as crossing the road, because she will be unable to learn the direction of sounds.

And the Littleton mother-of-two says Ellie getting the operation she needs is a postcode lottery' - she says children in Bradford, London and Nottingham who are the same as her toddler have had the two implants.

"Of course I'm bitter and angry," said the 35-year-old, who herself works in the NHS.

"Ellie will be more likely to get run over by a bus, fail at school or get depressed - and all because of where we live.

"Experts say she needs two implants but the people at Hampshire PCT are essentially accountants."

Mrs Wheatley said when she and her solicitor husband Ed, 35, first took their baby to the Cochlea Implant Centre last December, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) had just published draft guidelines recommending that pre-lingual deaf children like Ellie should have two implants.

But by the time she returned a couple of months later the body had changed its mind.

"NICE's decisions are meant to be evidence-based, but I feel they have bowed to financial pressure," said the Pitter Close resident.

"Yes, this operation is expensive, but it's also quite rare."

Campaigning website www.2ears2hear.org.uk reveals that it costs £33,000 for one implant, with a second discounted to £18,000 for the other ear.

She added: "I think the PCT only considered the extra cost of a second implant, not how much less her education and everything else will cost the state if she has both ears operated on now.

"In America private health insurers think it's actually more cost effective to do two implants immediately."

Mrs Wheatley, who contracted cytomegalovirus while she was pregnant with Ellie, which led to the baby's deafness, said she would re-mortgage her house if her appeal against the PCT's decision was unsuccessful.

Winchester MP Mark Oaten said: "I am determined to help Ellie get her cochlear implant.

"At such a young age this could make a real difference."

A spokesman for Hampshire Primary Care Trust, said: "Hampshire PCT has looked into funding bilateral cochlear implants and has considered this against current evidence.

"We are also guided by the consultation documents concerning these implants which have been issued by NICE ahead of its new guidance due to be released in September.

"The current NICE recommendations support unilateral implants for children and adults with severe to profound deafness.

"However, under these guidelines, bilateral cochlear implantation is restricted to certain conditions, including children and adults who are also blind.

"We will study the updated guidance next month, and review our current position based on the new evidence."

A cochlear implant is an electronic device with external and internal components. It works by stimulating the nerves of the inner ear with electrical signals, which the brain interprets and recognises as sound'.