The chairman of Bradford's health watchdog, whose ears were damaged by an Israeli stun grenade in Palestine, has been told he will have to wait two years for a hearing test.

Karl Dallas (pictured), chairman of Bradford Community Health Council, said he is outraged at the delay which has been caused by the introduction of hi-tech digital hearing aids following a campaign by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf.

The 71-year-old, of Manningham, said: "I am a pensioner, I could be dead before they get round to helping me."

Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust was one of 20 health trusts which were the first to introduce the new technology in 2000.

Today, Angela King, audiology policy officer for the RNID, said: "Long waiting times are a general problem and it is a symptom of a neglected service.

"Part of the problem is that information on waiting times is not scrutinised by the Department of Health in the same way as other areas such as ear, nose and throat are.

"Information is not collected centrally so there is very little incentive to put money in to improve the service."

Mr Dallas already suffered hearing problems before his trip to Palestine in June and July as part of the International Solidarity Movement.

He was injured when a stun grenade, thrown by an Israeli solider, exploded three feet away from him. The noise of the blast has left him struggling to hear high frequency sounds.

When he returned to Bradford, Mr Dallas went to visit his GP who wrote to Bradford Royal Infirmary requesting an appointment for him.

But when Mr Dallas received a letter giving him an appointment for 18 months' time, he returned to his GP to complain and was given a fresh appointment which meant he would have to wait only a matter of weeks.

However, when he kept his appointment at BRI he found he was not going to see a consultant for a hearing test, but a hearing therapist who was only able to tell him things he says he already knew.

The therapist also informed Mr Dallas there would be a two year wait for a hearing assessment to see if he can be fitted with a digital hearing aid.

"I was under the impression I was going for a hearing test," he said. "But it was a total waste of my time.

"She said because of a shortage of staff, equipment and premises, I would have to wait two years for anything to be done."

Mr Dallas has been fitted with an old-style analogue hearing aid while he waits for a digital hearing aid.

A spokesman for Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We are experiencing longer waits than normal for hearing tests at present but this is a temporary situation due in part to major improvements which we are making to our service.

"We are currently switching over from analogue to better digital hearing aids and this process requires three visits per patient instead of the usual one.

"We are also facing some difficulties in recruiting staff with sufficient skills and experience.

"However, we are looking at setting up additional clinics in the community and taking other measures to ensure waiting times are reduced which will make a great difference to the quality of life of our patients."

Jill Griffiths, services development officer at Age Concern Bradford, who conducted a straw poll within Age Concern, and found similar problems, said: "Now I have been made aware of this problem we will be getting in touch with BRI.

"It is an unacceptable time to wait, being unable to hear. I am amazed."

Nationally there has been a 30 per cent increase in waiting times since the introduction of digital technology.

There are only two million hearing aids users in the UK compared with five million who could benefit but the RNIB says a third of hearing aids provided are used rarely or not at all.

It has argued that poor quality hearing aids, along with rushed fittings, little guidance and long waiting times has left deaf and hard of hearing people isolated and excluded.

There will be a 20 per cent increase in the number of hearing impaired people in the next 10 years.

Advanced digital hearing aids perform better than traditional and poorer quality analogue NHS aids because they can be adjusted to suit the specific needs of each user - this means better hearing quality with background noise reduced and wearers can hear speech more clearly in a wider range of situations.