The government will today accelerate a £125m programme to provide deaf people with free digital hearing aids by handing over part of the work from the NHS to the private sector.

In a move welcomed by the deaf and hard-of-hearing charity, the RNID, Stephen Ladyman, the health minister, has struck a deal with two high street suppliers to provide a free assessment and fitting service which was previously available only on NHS premises.

It is one of a series of government moves to use the private sector to relieve bottlenecks in the NHS.

Digital aids can dramatically improve hearing, but only about 100,000 of the 9 million deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the UK have one.

The deal, which follows warnings of a shortage of NHS audiologists, will see the companies Ormerod and Ultravox appointed as dispensers for the NHS. They are expected to see their first NHS patients in January.

NHS patients will not be able to make appointments directly with the companies, but must be referred by their local audiology service. They will then be able to use one of the companies or be assessed by an NHS audiologist.

The RNID led negotiations on the government's behalf to bring the average cost to the NHS of a moderately powered digital hearing aid down to just over £65, a small fraction of the price paid by private patients.