Audiology waiting times lowest in country

Three years waiting for a hearing aid is thankfully no longer the case for Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Patients.

The Audiology Department at Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust have slashed waiting times by redesigning the service so that patients can be assessed and treated more quickly. Now patients wait no more than 13 weeks for treatment or to be fitted with a hearing aid.

There are plans to reduce waiting times even further so that patients locally will have to wait no longer than 6 weeks by March next year.

Innovative changes made by the Audiology Department have helped the current service to become more effective and efficient by increasing the departments capacity without having to rely on extra funding. 

News ways of working were suggested by staff on the best ways to cut the waiting times such as the introduction of group appointments as well as taking advice from the NHS Institute for Health and Innovation.

Patients have benefited from better referrals, earlier assessments and faster treatment.

Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale ‘Hearing Care and Therapy Services’ have offered direct access to the Audiology Department for any patient who has a hearing loss rather than waiting for referral from an ENT (Ears, Nose amp; Throat) Consultant that traditionally happened in the past.

Unfortunately Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCTs successes are not being mirrored across the country. Around half a million people in England are waiting for the NHS to fit hearing aids some are still waiting 2 years later, the Commons Health Select Committee said in a report on state provision of audiology services.

Michelle Bennion, Head of Audiology for Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust said: “Waiting 3 years for a hearing aid was not good enough and we knew had to make some drastic changes if things were to improve. By redesigning our service we have been able to provide local people with a more efficient Audiology service without sacrificing clinical quality. We are leading the country in terms of reducing Audiology waits and we were one of the first services nationally to redesign the patient pathway which meant that traditional ENT patients were being seen in a primary care setting. It was about the patient being seen in the right place, at the right time, by the right clinician.”