Legendary LGBTQ+ writer, activist, and HIV awareness campaigner Jason Reid has highlighted how a recent incident of discrimination as a person living with HIV during an appointment with Specsavers for earwax removal “raises the question of how” private companies “are operating” in the provision of routine medical procedures.
Crucially, Reid underscored that his experience exposed how the backdoor privatisation of NHS services is opening up disabled and chronically ill patients to stigma, abuse, and discrimination when seeking basic medical care.
Specsavers: turning HIV patient away for routine earwax removal
In June, Reid had attended a private appointment for earwax removal with opticians chain Specsavers due to a blocked ear. However, the audiologist had ultimately turned Reid away in a discriminatory incident that draws attention to the problems inherent in a system of ‘postcode lottery’ set-up of privatised services.
As the i Paper reported:
Specsavers, which has more than 900 UK stores and operates in 10 countries, turned away Jason Reid, 44, from an earwax removal treatment after he told them he had HIV during a routine questionnaire.
The outlet recounted Reid’s experience, with him telling the paper that the audiologist had:
Presented me [Reid] with some medical questions like, do you have diabetes? And then she asked if I have HIV, and I said yes because I’m very open about it.
She kind of stopped in her tracks and looked at me and said ‘OK, I’m going to have to look at the guidelines.
The i Paper noted how the National AIDS Trust was aware of at least one other person living with HIV that Specsavers had turned away for the same procedure.
Reid explained to the Canary how:
I was refused treatment in June after answering Specsavers standard health questionnaire on the day, because when I told the clinician I’m HIV undetectable they interpreted that as a blood communicable condition (archaic) but they were only referring to the guidelines at the time – the procedure of earwax removal wouldn’t pose a risk for HIV detectable folk either as it’s a non-invasive very low risk procedure.
Notably, in response to the i Paper, Specsavers had originally blamed the “lack of clarity” in the industry regulations, suggesting that the audiologist “had followed official industry guidelines”.
A problem with the guidelines?
The outlet highlighted how the British Society of Audiology (BSA):
advises against treating customers with “communicable blood diseases, but does not specifically mention HIV in its guidance.
Its chair, Dr Siabhan Brennan told the i Paper it had removed the guidance from the website and initiated a review to “improve the clarity of the wording”. It said this was to “reduce the possibility of further misunderstandings” and prevent “upset” for customers.
The National AIDS Trust also highlighted the issues with the guidance, noting on its Facebook how it had:
raised this issue with The British Society of Audiology to set out why we think their guidance should change.
Its director of policy Daniel Fluskey issued a statement to the i Paper that:
We are hopeful of a constructive outcome which will end the discrimination against people living with HIV and mean that they can access ear wax removal from Specsavers, and other audiology service providers.
And Reid has said that to Specsavers credit:
they’ve been amazing and realised that the guidelines were outdated as a result of my incident and worked to change the HIV contradiction as a priority. I’m really happy that it was all resolved in less than a couple of months.
Discrimination, plain and simple
Reid explained to the Canary how:
I spoke out, as with any of my activism, to make the necessary change so that others don’t have to go through discrimination (most would stay quiet and hold it with them which is damaging).
However, Reid emphasised that Specsavers’ treatment of him had constituted a breach of his rights as a person with a ‘protected characteristic’ – HIV – under the Equality Act 2010.
The incident should never have happened in the first place – and as Reid’s experience suggests, perhaps wouldn’t have if medical services were still run consistently through the NHS, rather than by private companies.
Notably, Reid is on anti-retroviral treatment that makes his HIV ‘undetectable’. As the i Paper explained:
Significant medical research has concluded that when someone is undetectable, it is effectively impossible for them to pass the virus on, even during unprotected sex. This has informed the public health slogan “undetectable – untransmissable” or “U-U”.
Specialist HIV consultant Dr Tristan Barber told the i Paper that there’s “no scientific basis” why an earwax removal service should refuse someone with HIV, because there’s “no risk of any exposure”.
Reid pointed out how his ordeal:
raises the question of how companies are operating, who have taken on procedures that were previously done under the umbrella of the NHS.
Backdoor privatisation of earwax removal
Since 2020, earwax removal services have been gradually disappearing from the NHS in various areas across the country.
Previously, GPs would provide ear syringing to patients. However, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has gradually updated its guidelines on this. New consensus indicated that this traditional procedure which involved a high-pressure water jet, carried risks. Specifically, it could result in perforated eardrums, tinnitus, ear infections, and damage to the ear canal. Instead, the new guidelines advised safer methods like ear irrigation and microsuction.
However, the 2020 Conservative government used the financial demand of training staff and funding equipment for these procedures as a reason to justify reclassifying it as a non-essential service. Notably, in September 2020, then Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) minister Edward Argar announced that it was:
no longer one of the core services GPs are obliged to provide.
As such, he declared ear wax removal an enhanced service. The result was that Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) stopped paying for the service. It meant that GPs no longer had funding for it. Some NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) have now stopped providing the service altogether.
Through a series of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) discovered that out of the 42 ICBs across England:
- In 2024, 18 were funding a full service.
- The same year, 15 restricted eligibility for it or GP surgeries in their area did not offer it.
- Seven ICBs commissioned no services for earwax removal in 2024. 10 million people live in these areas without treatment available on the NHS. The ICBs in question were: Birmingham & Solihull, Cornwall & Scilly Isles, Dorset, Mid & South Essex, NW London, SW London, Suffolk & NE Essex.
In short, its downgrading has essentially opened it up the service to backdoor privatisation.
Loss of NHS services harming marginalised patient communities
Of course, this is causing a postcode lottery of coverage for the procedure.
In April, the British Society for Audiologists backed the RNID’s findings. It called for ICBs to restore earwax removal as a full NHS service.
Moreover, the RNID has highlighted how the loss of these NHS services is disproportionately impacting hearing aid users, older people, and learning disabled people. Many cannot afford to go private, with the procedure costing anywhere up to £100.
Now, Reid’s experience has pointed to another way in which the privatisation of the essential medical service is harming marginalised patients communities.
Featured image via Unsplash/Mark Paton
This post was originally published on Canary.