Let Scotland be heard
Specsavers is addressing Scotland’s hearing crisis by calling on the Scottish Government to improve access to community audiology services for Scots.
The high street opticians held the ‘Let Scotland be heard: tackling hearing loss’ event at the Scottish Parliament on 7th November alongside Sandesh Gulhane MSP, the Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care who hosted the event.
Specsavers Head of Clinical Performance, Annie Morris and Group Director for NHS Services, Stephen McAndrew spoke at the event alongside Dame Jackie Baillie MSP (Shadow Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care and Drugs Policy).
Calling for equitable access to hearing care
The objective of the Holyrood event is to urge the Scottish Government to introduce community-based audiology services. This was included in the Scottish Government’s NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026, as a recommendation of one of 11 new primary care services, however this has not yet been fulfilled.
If commissioned it would allow Scots to access NHS-funded hearing care on the high street, just like eye health services, rather than having to travel to hospital. NHS Scotland waiting times would also be significantly reduced, particularly in remote communities which have the highest backlogs, and this would alleviate pressure on hospital services and local GPs, allowing hospitals to care for more patients who need specialist audiology care.
Part of the discussions focused on the inaugural Hearing Health Report - ‘It’s Time to Talk about Hearing’ which was commissioned by the high street opticians which combines new data and insights aimed to get commissioners, policy makers, service providers and health professionals talking more about hearing services.
'Specsavers wants to work in partnership with NHS Scotland, to help improve access to care for all.'
Despite the best efforts of NHS Scotland hospital-based clinicians, Freedom of Information requests submitted to every health board revealed that in 2023, a total of 15,057 people in Scotland were waiting for hearing tests at their local hospital. Many patients waited more than a year for an initial assessment, another year to have hearing aids fitted – and in the worst cases, nearly four years for aftercare.
Developing community hearing services
Specsavers’ report also calls for the development of community hearing services to ease the pressure on NHS Scotland. Currently there are no NHS primary care audiology services commissioned in Scotland and the commitment in the Scottish Government’s NHS Recovery Plans 2021-2026 has not been achieved.
It has been determined that self-referral to high street practices could free up to 500,000 GP appointments a year for other people who need to see their GP, highlighting the urgency for change. Whilst the UK economy loses £25billion a year in lost productivity and unemployment due to unaddressed hearing loss.
Head of Clinical Performance, Annie Morris says:
'In September, we launched the first Hearing Health report to urge the Scottish Government to commit to providing easy access to community audiology services. As the stats show, waiting lists continue to grow as time goes on, which means more and more people are waiting longer for an initial hearing assessment.
‘One of the major benefits of a community service in Scotland would be to help tackle current NHS backlogs, with patients being able to speak to experts on their high street like they do for eye health care, rather than travelling to hospitals.
‘It is also ultimately about putting the focus on hearing care and changing the conversation about hearing loss, addressing the denial which we so often find within the industry, and getting word out there about the importance of ear health and hearing protection.
‘We see first-hand that there is a growing demand for this community service. Therefore, Specsavers wants to work in partnership with NHS Scotland, to help improve access to care for all.’
To find out more, read Specsavers Hearing Health Report at https://www.specsavers.co.uk/reports/hearing-health-2024.