Otology deals with the diagnosis and management of diseases of the outer and middle ear while neurotology deals with the diagnosis and management of diseases that affect the inner ear and its nerve connections to the brain. The ear is vital for hearing and therefore for the development of language and speech in children and for aural communication in an oral world. Patients with hearing loss often suffer from a sense of detachment, and so restoring hearing through precise and skillful microscopic surgery of the middle or inner ear benefits the patient and the wider community.

The Division of Otology & Neurotology has established international reputation in reconstructive middle ear surgery, hearing implantation and surgery of the skull base surgery. The reputation has been strengthened by the running of international and local conferences, by international training workshops, by the establishment of the Institute of Human Communicative Research and of the charity/community service arm - The Hear Talk Foundation.