SOUTH Dorset MP Jim Knight has joined a national campaign to get the latest technology digital hearing aids for everyone who needs them on the NHS.

The campaign is headed by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) and Mr Knight has now signed an Early Day Motion calling on the Government to start universal provision of NHS digital hearing aids.

The announcement comes after a huge row in Dorset where some hospital consultants were urged to 'downplay' the benefits of digital hearing aids in a bid to cut costs.

Surgeons and consultants at Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester, were sent a letter from West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust's head of audiology and hearing therapy Jeremy Tweed appealing for them not to tell patients about the dramatic improvements in hearing quality offered by the new digital hearing aids.

He said low department funding meant the new aids could only be given to people with the very highest disability, but the RNID said there was 'no excuse' for misleading patients.

It added that the aids could be made widely available for just £150 per patient compared with £50 for an analogue aid.

Mr Knight said: "I was alarmed to read of the reported advice given out by the trust which is in contrast with the positive statements made by both the heath authority and the Government.

"The Department of Health, in partnership with the RNID, is carrying out work to test the benefits of providing NHS digital hearing aids as part of a modernised service over the past year."

He added that the partnership had so far led to the fitting of more than 10,500 aids and almost 13,000 people assessed for an aid on the NHS with thousands more expected to get digital aids.

Mr Knight said: "I have received a considerable amount of correspondence from constituents and do appreciate the concerns which have been raised. I gave support to the Early Day Motion because we do need to implement universal provision as soon as possible."