"Grommets still in place after 15 years"

As a child I suffered with glue ear and had to have multiple operations, during which grommets were fitted into my eardrum.

I would have last had the grommets put in my eardrum when I was roughly 8 years old, I am now in my 20's. I have struggled with my hearing since I was a child and assumed my hearing was simply damaged from when I was a child. I have used eardrops to clear the earwax for a considerable amount of time - as advised by my doctor (who knew I had grommets fitted as a child). I was scheduled to have my ears cleaned with syringing, during which time the nurse discovered I still had a grommet in my right ear... this should have fallen out/been removed around 15 years ago.

As to why the grommet was not removed when I was a child - I have no idea, I would have only been 8 or 10 years old at max. Grommets are only designed to remain in the ear for at most 5 years, that time has been tripled. I am now facing the reality that my hearing has been permanently damaged due to the lack of a follow-up appointment when I was a child. I have been referred to the ENT clinic but there have always been long waiting times, pre-covid as well as post-covid, which I feel is a failure of the NHS. I now face a wait time of an unknown period, during which my hearing will continue to be damaged... I have looked at the cost of having the grommet privately removed but unfortunately that is out of reach financially.

Am I incorrect in thinking this would be classed as medical negligence? I am facing permanent hearing damage at a young age due to a surgeon/doctor not arranging a follow-up appointment 15 years ago. Further to that, I am perplexed as to how it has taken 15 years for this error to be spotted, numerous doctors have looked in my ear, only to say it is blocked with wax, to then say to use ear-drops (despite knowing I have had grommets) which may have potentially caused further damage.