A CLASSIC case of NHS postcode rationing will end today when Health Secretary Alan Milburn announces moves to give all deaf people more modern hearing aids.

Until today's announcement at Darlington Memorial Hospital, the only centre in the North-East which fitted deaf people with digital hearing aids, was Sunderland.

An extra £94m will be pumped into hearing-aid services to enable all patients to receive more expensive, but far more effective digital equipment. The only downside is that the process is not expected to be complete until April 2005.

The Darlington MP was responding to pressure from deaf people who have been calling for access to modern hearing aids for years.

Sunderland Royal Infirmary was one of only 57 centres to be allocated extra funding for the digital aids, as part of a Government pilot scheme. But this meant that patients from other parts of the region had to rely on outdated technology.

In many cases, patients decided to go private and buy digital hearing aids costing between £800 and £2,500.

Mr Milburn said: "The sustained investment we are now making in the NHS means that we can extend the availability of digital hearing aids across the country. The result is better services for deaf people and those who are hard of hearing."

The £94m will be distributed over the next two years.

Dr John Low, chief executive of the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, said: "This is excellent news for deaf and hard of hearing people who have been demanding better hearing aids for many years."