A retired GP friend once told me that the single procedure patients in his surgery were most grateful for ear wax syringing.

As a sufferer myself since my late forties, I can fully understand this.

Every year or two I have had to make appointments to restore my hearing. When this is done, it feels like being back in the world again.

Readers may not all be aware that this vital GP service has now been cut.

According to the BBC website on September 25th last year, government minister Edward Argar stated that it is ‘no longer one of the core services GPs are obliged to provide.’

Ear wax sufferers – and we are many – must now pay for private treatment, at a cost of £30 upwards. I will be paying locally £55.

The NHS was founded as a ‘cradle to grave’ service. It should continue to treat this debilitating and common affliction.

A blocked ear can affect your balance, make you feel dizzy and make work and social life difficult if not impossible. And £55 is a very considerable amount of money, especially for those on a low income.

I urge fellow sufferers to write to the health minister and our local MP and campaign for this service to be funded and restored.

This is a completely unacceptable example of privatisation by stealth of our NHS services.

Ian Curr

Salisbury

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