To personalised hearing service

AUL BATHURST admits he was disappointed when he asked aHealth Service audiologist if he could upgrade his uncomfortable behind- the- ear hearing aids for something less visible andwas told: “It’s those or nothing. TheNHS is under severe financial pressure, we don’t offer that kind of service.”

He says: “I know the NHS can’t provide everything for everyone, but I didn’t like the appearance of them. From the front you couldn’t see them, but from the back or side it was pretty obvious.”

Paul was in his 40s when he was first fitted with NHS hearing aids, and the bulky devices, which looped over his ear like the aids his parents had worn, were making him feel self- conscious.

Paul says: “I guess we are all a bit vain, but I work with many young professionals and I didn’t want to appear older than I am.”

There were other issues, too. Paul, 54, a management coach and trainer fromHarrogate in Yorkshire, says: “I found them terrible for driving and there was a point in the day when they became so uncomfortable I found myself pulling them out and putting them in my pocket.”

This is not uncommon. The charity Action on Hearing estimates 600,000 people in the UK have hearing aids but don’t wear them regularly. There are two primary barriers, according to a study in the International Journal of Audiology: “The hearing aid not providing enough benefit, and comfort.”

Paul did some research of his own, and after talking to friends and colleagues who wore discreet in- the- ear systems, he booked a free hearing test at his local Amplifon branch.

It was only then that he realised how good hearing aids could be, and the huge difference a personalised approach can make. “It was a real eye- opener,” he says.

“The tests at Amplifon were a lotmore thorough than anything I’d had before. There was one that really impressed me where they play different sentences with background noise. You miss words but try to piece it together and tell them what’s being said. That was really interesting, because that’s like real life.”

It’s all part of a unique Amplifon approach — which involves a series of health and lifestyle questions, a thorough examination of the ear, hearing and speech recognition tests and real- world hearing loss simulators.

Amplifon audiologist and training manager Chris Childe explains: “It’s a journey to understand the impact of someone’s hearing loss on their daily life so that we can prescribe a bespoke hearing solution which is completely unique, that suits their individual hearing issues and lifestyle needs.”

Paul says there is a “huge difference” between his old NHS hearing aids and his state- of- the- art devices from Amplifon.

“When they first put them in, they were so comfortable. I can have them in literally all day and at bedtime I often lie down and realise I haven’t taken my hearing aids out.”

And because the digital aids are programmed to address Paul’s specific hearing needs, the sound quality is far superior, particularly if there is background noise. “With the old ones, if I was in a restaurant I picked up everything, it was just a cacophony of sound.”

But it’s theAmplifon aftercare that he says is really special. “I tend to have high expectations, and the service you get from Amplifon is excellent. It’s like those friendly local shops where you know someone and they know you. You can go in at any time and ask ‘ Can you just check this?’ and they do it — you can’t expect that kind of service at the NHS.”

Amplifon’s aftercare package includes regular five- star service checks, though Paul says: “The last time I sawAndrew I told him I didn’t need to book another one and he said, ‘ No you ought to come back in and we will just check everything is OK’.

“It’s nice when you know someone is looking out for you like that.”