Evidence submitted by Jane Deans, The
Great Western Hospital, Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust (AUDIO
14)
BACKGROUND
20 years experience working in both adult and
paediatric audiology, and national assessor for student practical
examinations.
Whether accurate data on waiting times for audiology
services are available?
1. I do not feel that all the data collected
is accurate as different departments use different categories
which therefore results in different data being collected—non
uniform data collection.
Why audiology services appear to lag behind other
specialties in respect of waiting times and access and how this
can be addressed?
2. The introduction of digital hearing aids
has changed so many patients lives for the better but the demand
was not correctly estimated. In our department the waiting times
only exist due to chronic under funding from the PCTs for digital
hearing aids. This seems to be a historical problem, as it has
occurred in other audiology departments I have worked in—but,
it is more of a problem now with digital hearing aids being more
expensive.
Whether the NHS has the capacity to treat the
numbers of patients waiting?
3. I feel that the NHS has the capacity
to treat the number of patients waiting if were funded properly.
Funding has been given from PCTs but this has been to buy the
hearing aids NOT to pay staff—implying that staff should
work for free! Once patients have been transferred over to digital
hearing aids that waiting list should, in theory, disappear.
Whether enough new audiologists are being trained?
4. Yes there are enough Audiologists being
trained but the training now takes longer (ie BSc) so where as
in the past students, whilst training, had clinical input this
does now not happen until their third year of training.
How great a role the private sector should play
in providing audiology services?
5. This should only be a temporary role,
if at all, to help with the exchange to digital hearing aids.
Once the patients have been exchanged they should have their care
returned to the NHS. On talking to patients most do not want to
be seen by the "private sector" as they have little
faith in this system. We are significantly cheaper than the private
sector (stated as being £300+ per patient without the cost
of the aids) and already have our systems in place. Additionally,
we have more experience of the "additional" problems
patients experience (ie tinnitus, vestibular, general rehabilitation,
support) so we infact do more than simply "fit" a hearing
aid.
Jane Deans
Audiologist, The Great Western Hospital, Swindon
& Marlborough NHS Trust
6 February 2007
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