Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust - Children's Audiology Service
Services and organisations that have the Local Offer flash have filled out inclusion information, meaning that they meet the needs of people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

We offer hearing assessment for children from birth to adulthood. We provide hearing aids for children or young people with a hearing impairment as commissioned by KCCG (Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group). In partnership with Parents, children, young people, ENT (Ear Nose and Throat), Hearing Support Service we aim to:

Offer timely assessment of a child or young persons hearing
Provide parents, children and young people with a clear understanding of any hearing impairment
Support parents, children and young people make to best use of their hearing aid
Support children and young people through key transition points in their life
Support parents, children and young people gain social and emotional inclusion.

The hearing aids provided are selected from the NHS contract making the most of the latest technology available to the NHS. We currently use Oticon and Phonak hearing aids, they both offer good quality sound but they do provide a different sound to the listener. In our opinion Oticon has a more mellow sound quality and manipulates the input less, this is very useful for children and young people with glue ear. They do not have any nerve hearing loss and we would therefore want the ear to function as “normal” as possible to develop good auditory processing. Also glue ear most commonly affects the low frequencies and the mellow sound quality allows the listener to experience good quality fidelity in this area. Phonak hearing aids in our opinion have an excellent high frequency output; they can also manipulate the sound more in noise. For a child or young person with a permanent hearing loss where the nerve is involved we feel these hearing aids provide a sound that will maximise their ability to hear speech clearly. Phonak hearing aids have a phase cancelling feedback manager that in our opinion means feedback (whistling) is less of a problem with these aids, for any hearing aid wearer this is vital. BAHA (Bone Anchored Hearing Aids) are provided via the BAHA commissioning contract from NHS England which details eligibility criteria, we provide both Cochlear and Oticon Medical BAHAs as required.

The service is staffed by Audiologists, hearing therapists, admin and support staff. The service offers advice, support, onward referral as required to specialist services.

We aim to offer an open referral system which means referrals can be made by parents, any Health Professional or professional working with a child, young person or family.

Who to contact

Contact name: Alice Roberts
Contact position: Paediatric Lead
Telephone: 01872 253754
E-mail: rcht.audiology@nhs.net

Where to go

Name: Audiology Service, Royal Cornwall Hospital
Address: Truro
Postcode: TR1 3LJ
Notes: The services main location is at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, we do offer community hearing assessment clinics which provide an invaluable service in assessing the hearing of children at 15 locations throughout Cornwall. While they are not suitable for full diagnostic assessment they provide a triage assessment to ascertain if further investigation is needed. This requires the family to travel to 1 of the 4 locations whose accommodation allows a full diagnostic assessment.

Other details

Costs

Details: Hearing assessments and hearing aids are provided free of charge, the NHS does reserve the right to charge for repeated damage and/or loss of hearing aids.
Do you offer a free or reduced rate to carers?: No

Availability

Age ranges: From 0 years to 25 years
Referral required: Yes
Referral details: We aim to offer an open referral system which means referrals can be made by parents, any Health Professional or any professional working with a child, young person or family. Please ensure you detail the hearing concerns you have when making the referral

Inclusion details

How we make our service inclusive: All locations meet current access requirements. If a child or young person has communication needs parents are invited to inform us prior to the appointment so that suitable adaptations can be made. In conjunction with the Hearing Support Service we can assist parents and families to prepare their child or young person for their appointment.
Staff SEND experience: All staff have training and experience in dealing with children and young people with SENDs. In conjunction with the wider multi-disciplinary team appropriate support/training can be arranged as required.
How our service supports providers / schools / colleges: We provide reports and information for SENCOs, Advisory Teachers, TAC meetings, Statement Review Meetings advising of a child's hearing needs and the impact that this may have in an educational setting.
Support at key transition points: All the audiology staff provide ongoing support and advice to child, young people and their families to ensure smooth transition. We aim to provide support through an individual program based on their needs, we are able to offer an increase in support as required in partnership with the hearing support service.
Other local or national support: Further information can be found on the web at NHS England, local and national organisation which support hearing impaired children, young people and their families.
Resolving disagreements, mediation and making complaints: Either in writing to: Melissa McDermott, Paediatric Lead, Audiology Department, RoyalCornwallHospital, Truro, TR1 3LJ. Telephone: 01872 253754, email: melissamcdermott@nhs.net People may also contact the Patient Experience Team at the Royal Cornwall Hospital Telephone: 01872 252793 Email: rcht.patientexperience@nhs.net

Last updated: 03/08/2020

Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust - Children's Audiology Service Services and organisations that have the Local Offer flash have filled out inclusion information, meaning that they meet the needs of people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)