Today is International Cochlear Implant Day which aims to raise awareness of cochlear implants across the world and I was delighted to visit the North East Regional Cochlear Implant Programme (NERCIP) based out of Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital.

It has been running for 32 years, implanting its first adult patient in 1990 and first paediatric patient in 1992. Within the first 9 years of the service being established, 100 patients were implanted.

A Cochlear Implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who has a severe or profound hearing loss and there are more than 250,000 users worldwide; 12,000 in the UK.

It was fascinating to hear about the work being carried out here in Middlesbrough and meet Clinical lead, Lisa Kennedy; Dr Anirvan Banerjee and managing director Rob Harrison.

As always, I thank all the staff at James Cook University Hospital who do such wonderful work.