ELDERLY patients are being forced to pay hundreds of pounds for hearing aids because Oxfordshire's waiting lists are longer than a year.

The average waiting time to get a hearing aid fitted at the Radcliffe Infirmary is 54 weeks - above the national average - and some people have been delayed for up to three years.

In some cases going to a private clinic can cost elderly patients up to £3,000, but with the guarantee it can be fitted within two weeks.

The new survey by the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists (BSHAA) showed hospital patients in Oxfordshire wait more than six weeks more than the national average.

Alfred Stratton, 74, of Long Hanborough got his hearing aid from Scrivens after seeing the experience of his 95-year-old mother who has had to wait for almost three years for a hearing aid.

He said: "I didn't want to go through the wait because I had enough trouble with my mother. In 2003, the hospital said they would get it sorted but as far as I'm aware she's still on the list.

"It's terrible when you start losing your hearing. When I have to take them out I feel lost, they do a wonderful job."

Bypassing the hospital waiting lists can cost patients hundreds or even thousands of pounds.

A hearing aid at Scrivens in Witney, Banbury, or Oxford, costs from £195 while prices at HS Audiological Centre in Headington, Oxford start at £800 and patients at David Ormerod Hearing Centre in Cornmarket range from £299 to £3,000.

Hearing aid audiologist Rachael Ludlow, pictured, of the Hearing Company at Scrivens, said: "If you wait too long the hearing can get worse and I've even known a patient who died before she got the hearing aid. Health and age are the issues as most of the people being forced to wait so long are elderly."

It is the third consecutive year waiting times have increased nationally, but the Radcliffe Infirmary has reduced waiting times by 11 weeks in the past 12 months.

The average national wait is between 45 and 48 weeks.

A spokesman for Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals said they were aware improvements must be made and were planning to replace follow-up appointments with telephone calls to cut the waiting times.

The spokesman added: "The report by the BSHAA shows that this is an area which hasn't in the past been given the right amount of attention by health planners nationally, and the improvement of shifting from analogue to digital hearing devices has, as nationally, led to an increased demand on our services.

"Locally, the number of people who are joining the list is no longer rising, and we are also prioritising those patients who require a first fitting of a hearing aid."