Trust denies long hearing aid wait

The Bridgend trust disputes figure for its waiting list time

An NHS trust has rebutted claims that it has the longest waiting list in Britain for outpatients needing to be fitted with a hearing aid.

The British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists said patients at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend waited four years to be seen.

It said this compared to an average wait in the UK of 47 weeks.

But Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust said the society had not verified its figures, and its longest wait was 99 weeks.

The research was carried out by the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists after their members received complaints about NHS waiting times.

We have fitted...up to 40,000 new digital hearing aids, so obviously I have to go back and ask questions Health Minister Jane Hutt

The society gathered results using "mystery shoppers" - people posing as customers - calling hospitals pretending to need a hearing aid.

The hospitals were asked how long it would take for an appointment and then when the hearing aid could actually be fitted.

The report found the average wait in the UK was 47 weeks.

The report claimed outpatients attending the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend had to wait for four years for a hearing aid appointment.

This was the longest wait in mainland Britain, and joint worst in the UK with the Mid Ulster Hospital, Northern Ireland, it claimed.

But Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust, which runs the Princess of Wales Hospital, suggested the society appeared to have got its sums wrong.

'Huge step forward'

In a statement, the trust said someone referred to the hospital by their GP had a 36-week wait for their first appointment, while someone referred to an audiologist waited 39 weeks.

In both cases, people would wait a further 27 weeks for a hearing aid to be fitted.

The trust went on to say patients who were waiting to be upgraded from an ordinary or analogue hearing aid to a digital hearing aid faced a wait of 99 weeks

Welsh Health Minister Jane Hutt had agreed that the figures for Wales appeared to be unacceptable but also said the findings of the shopper survey had to be checked with the hospitals.

She told Radio Wales: "Wales has taken a huge step forward with our digital hearing aid programme.

"Over the last three years we have spent £5.6m on improving our audiology units throughout Wales.

"We have fitted, as of last month, up to 40,000 new digital hearing aids, so obviously I have to go back and ask questions, as it's key to people's lives."

The BSHAA has called for the NHS to team up with high street dispensers to try to speed up the delivery of digital hearing aids.