To ask the Minister of Health to detail the current provision of ear wax removal services, broken down by Health and Social Care Trust.

Ear wax removal services are delivered by primary and secondary care. Some GPs provide ear wax removal services at their practice but in recent years, changes to National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) clinical guidelines have resulted in fewer practices being able to treat patents. Ear wax removal is now treated by using micro suction as a result of these guidelines.

In the Northern Trust there is currently 1 full time ENT Nurse who undertakes this role, patients are prioritised according to those patients who meet the criteria and must have ongoing reviews within the service.

The Southern Trust provides an ENT nurse led ear wax removal service in Craigavon Hospital on Tuesday afternoons, in Daisy Hill on Mondays and Banbridge Health and Care Centre on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. South Tyrone Hospital holds clinics twice a month.

The South Eastern Trust provides ear wax removal at clinics in the Ulster Hospital, Lagan Valley Hospital & the Downe Hospital sites by trained ENT nurses. Patients can be referred for micro-suction, however this service is only commissioned for patients where there is a clinical contraindication to the procedure in Primary care. Those patients that are referred to the Trust are seen based on their clinical urgency.

Hearing aid service users within Belfast HSC Trust with significant wax impacting hearing aid use or overall hearing are offered a referral to the nurse-led micro suction clinic in which they are given priority to access the system.

In the Western Trust, full day clinics are held in Altnagelvin Hospital on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. A further clinic is held on Friday afternoons.

Omagh Health Centre & Primary Care Complex holds full day clinics for ear care patients including post op mastoid surgery, otitis externa and complicated wax patients on Wednesdays.

These clinics, however, are only seeing urgent/high risk and (GP) referral patients like Chronic otitis externa, tympanic membrane perforation, attic retraction, post op mastoidectomy patients, and otitis externa due to the backlog in outpatient appointments.