ENT specialist battles to get public patients cochlear implant surgery at Gold Coast University Hospital

A prominent ear, nose and throat surgeon is fighting for cochlear implant surgery for public patients at Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH), saying it changes lives.

A PROMINENT ear, nose and throat surgeon is fighting for cochlear implant surgery for public patients at Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH), saying it changes lives.

Patients without private health care, including newborns and the elderly, must be referred to the public hospitals in Brisbane to have cochlear implants.

Dr Brent McMonagle, the only sub-specialist ear and skull-base surgeon between Brisbane and Newcastle, said: “What drives me crazy is people living with profound hearing loss in the Gold Coast, Australia’s six largest second and the second largest city in Queensland, can only get access to cochlear implant surgery on the Gold Coast if they have private health.

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Gold Coast ENT specialist Dr Brent McMonagle is fighting to get the Gold Coast University Hospital to perform cochlear implant surgery on public patients so they don’t have to travel to Brisbane.

“Everyone else is forced to travel to Brisbane, for scans, tests and surgery and then numerous follow-up appointments. For some it becomes just too difficult so they just suffer in silence.

“It’s unacceptable, it’s well overdue and we need to make this happen.”

A cochlear implant is an electronic device that bypasses the part of the ear that isn’t working, sending sound straight to the hearing nerve.

He said even cities such as Townsville and Newcastle in NSW offered residents access to publicly-funded programs.

Dr McMonagle does virtually all ear surgeries at GCUH.

He established a cochlear implant program on the Gold Coast in 2010 and has performed more than 100 implants so far, all via his private practice. None were in the public system.

“The only reason we’re not doing it in the public system is because we’ve never done it before. It’s incredibly disappointing because there’s so many people that could benefit from this surgery, it literally changes lives.”

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Gold Coast-based cochlear implant patient, Alan Hemsworth, lost his hearing about spending 30 years in the air force. He says the implants have transformed his life. Picture: Jerad Williams

Gold Coaster Alan Hemsworth, 82, had bilateral cochlear implant surgery when he was 77 after losing his hearing during 30 years of Royal New Zealand Air Force service.

“I tried a succession of hearing aids but gradually my hearing loss became more profound and audiologists told me they couldn’t do anything more for me,” he said.

After being referred to Dr McMonagle, he decided to get cochlear implants, as a private patient, and said his life had been transformed after living for 20 years with severe hearing loss.

“What you don’t realise when you’re becoming deaf is the real world is actually slipping away from you, you can’t even hear rain on the roof. It’s also very socially isolating, my wife used to do all the talking anywhere we went,” he said.

“A month after being switched on, I was sitting there finally hearing my wife’s voice again and everything sounded as it should.

“It really does change lives and for those with hearing loss I’d say do it for others in your life, because they are the ones who are most inconvenienced, particularly partners.”

Cochlear implant patient, Alan Hemsworth, said the surgery wasn’t overly painful and suggested people consider getting it to help the loved ones in their lives, as they were the people that were most negatively affected by having a severely deaf person in their lives. Picture: Jerad Williams

Dr McMonagle said there were many benefits to restoring a person’s hearing, including a lack of spend on future medical bills as well as the mental health benefits of someone being able to rejoin society and get back into the workforce.

“It’s disappointing to think 90 per cent of people who could be eligible for cochlear implants don’t even know it, in many cases you don’t have to be completely deaf to have the surgery,” he said.

“It’s not a ridiculously expensive, rare or complex surgery and Gold Coasters should have access to it locally.”

He said studies had found people with cochlear implants could understand sentences eight times better than they could previously with their hearing aids. Despite this, just 10 to 12 per cent of Australian adults who could benefit from a cochlear implant have one.

A Gold Coast Health spokesperson said: “Gold Coast Health currently only has one specialist in this area. We are fortunate that a cochlear implant service is available in Brisbane”.

“With low consumer demand and limited specialists, we have no plans to take on this

service at the Gold Coast at this time.”

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