It’s a childhood ailment that can be fixed with routine surgery.
But left untreated, glue ear can have devastating impacts on a child’s physical and mental development.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Five-year-old forced to wait months for grommet surgery with fears she may lose her hearing.
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That’s why Simon Jones and Alana Kovacs were shocked to hear they would have to wait five months in Queensland’s public hospital system for their daughter Azarliah to undergo surgery to implant grommets.
The couple has noticed the changes in their five-year-old daughter, who is one of thousands of children needing the surgery each year in Queensland.
Queensland couple Simon Jones and Alana Kovacs are concerned for their impact of their daughter Azarliah’s glue ear. Credit: Sunrise
“It’s affected her behaviour and sleep patterns,” Jones told Sunrise.
“She’s not sleeping very well at all. She’s going to bed late.
“And (it’s affecting) her eating as well because of her large tonsils.
“It’s harder for her to learn at school.
“It’s changed her attitude a tonne. She just needs to get something done about it to be a normal kid again.”
Glue ear is a build-up of thick and sticky fluid in the middle ear.
Azarliah is on the wait list at the public Gold Coast University Hospital.
The procedure would cost $4000 through private health.
The couple have tried to convince health officials to expedite the surgery but “we’re just not getting anywhere at all”, Kovacs said.
“We’re aware of some of the risks. She could actually go permanently deaf in one or both ears,” she said.
The Gold Coast Health and Hospital Service says Azarliah has been declared a category-3 patient, meaning she must have the operation within 365 days of being added to the waitlist.
Positive development
“(She) is still within the clinically recommended waiting period,” a spokesperson said.
“In the March 2023 quarter, the median wait time for treatment across all categories by an ear nose throat (ENT) specialist was 62 days, with 97.3 per cent of patients seen within the clinically recommended time.
“Our clinicians are committed to delivering specialist outpatient appointments within clinically recommended times.”
In a positive development, the BMW Club of Queensland has offered to pay for Azarliah to have the surgery in a private hospital.
The club’s chair, Brisbane businessman John Fairman, told 7NEWS.com.au the club will donate money raised by the club in a recent fundraiser.
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