"Hospital not listening to my girl's hearing plight"

A Mother is fighting Surrey Primary Care Trust for her daughter's right to hear in both ears. Anabelle Somnez, aged nine, of Alexandra Road, Warlingham, was born profoundly deaf. She had a hearing implant fitted when she was three-and-a-half giving her partial hearing in one ear.

Her mother, Samantha Somnez, 37, a legal secretary, said: "I think my girl needs to hear in both ears, not just one.Surrey PCT doesn't agree. It turned her down." Mrs Somnez said: "She can't tell where sounds are coming from and I worry about her safety, especially crossing the road. She has difficulty with background noise."

Annabelle, who has mild cerebral palsy and a speech defect, attends specialist weekly boarding school Mary Hare Primary, in Newbury, Berkshire. Mrs Somnez said Anabelle especially enjoyed music and dance, but not as much as she could if she had a device in both ears. She still had to lip read in class.

The device that Anabelle wants is a cochlear implant, sometimes called a bionic ear. It uses a microphone to transmit to a receiver surgically implanted in the ear. Mrs Somnez has been campaigning for her daughter for more than a year. Her consultant audiologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children contacted Surrey PCT at her request in February last year.

Anabelle was turned down for a second implant in August last year on the grounds that it would "jeopardise any future technology which could benefit the patient's hearing".

Mrs Somnez said: "They said they wanted her to wait in case something better came along. I think she should be helped now." She appealed, but was turned down on the grounds that there was "no evidence of the clinical need" to support it. Mrs Somnez believes the decision was taken because the operation is expensive.

A letter written on behalf of Chris Butler, chief executive of Surrey PCT, in November last year, said that they had patients who were still waiting for a single implant. Mrs Somnez has made a complaint about the decision.

Tricia Kemp is the founder of the Cochlea Implanted Children's Support Group. She said: "At the moment, there is no nationwide guidance. It's all about the money. Some PCTs will fund these implants. Some won't."

A spokesman for Surrey PCT said: "We appreciate that this decision has been difficult for Anabelle and the Sonmez family. The current clinical evidence to support the additional benefit of a second cochlea implant is not conclusive. We have to follow due process to ensure a fair and equitable solution for all our patients."