The British Academy of Audiology (BAA) has released a position statement on the future of NHS Adult Hearing Loss Management. The Board of Directors’ position is that audiology services must be free at the point of access for everyone who needs them.
Where possible this is best provided by existing NHS services, which have the infrastructure, governance and joined up pathways to be safe and effective. The BAA opposes voucher schemes and anything that risks fragmenting and ultimately privatising parts of this pathway by stealth.
The BAA recognises the important role the private sector plays in hearing care provision in the UK through offering a broader choice of hearing aid styles and features than typically available via the NHS, as well as offering alternative services such as custom hearing protection that are not ordinarily NHS funded. It is also pragmatic about capacity and the limits to what a struggling system can offer. The BAA asks that the four nation’s governments fund the NHS Audiology service appropriately to allow improved investment in infrastructure, staffing, training and education, to ensure the long-term sustainability of NHS Audiology provision.
It calls on all NHS services to think how they can deliver their services differently – if necessary – to meet the current and future challenges we all face. It also calls on practitioners to engage with their political representatives on these vital issues and to use the position statement as a resource for this dialogue.
For more details and the full position statement, see:
https://www.baaudiology.org/app/uploads/2024/08/BAA-Position-Statement-on-NHS-Adult-Hearing-Loss-Management-190824.pdf
