It made sense to go private

Sue Taylor struggled to hear at work, but NHS aids still didn't correct the problem. In her fifties, pharmacy dispenser Sue thought she was too young to be suffering from hearing loss. "I'd always thought hearing loss was something that affected older people," she says. At work she struggled to hear what callers were saying on the phone, so she knew something wasn't quite right. The problems carried on at home, with Sue often unable to hear what her husband and daughter were saying. "I'd have to ask them to repeat themselves," she says. "I'd always have the TV turned up loud too. After seeing her GP, Sue was referred for an NHS hearing test through her local hospital, yet she found the test did not go into enough detail. As a result, she was given hearing aids that still didn't correct the problem and her difficulties remained, especially when she was on the phone. When daughter Kelly suggested she see an audiologist through Amplifon, a global hearing specialist, she was amazed at the difference. The audiologist gave Sue a free in-depth hearing test using pioneering technology to pinpoint exactly what she needed. "The hospital test was very basic," she says. "They didn't do half the things that my audiologist did at Amplifon, who had much more time to go through everything." After recommending a set of hearing aids, Sue's audiologist offered her a free trial so she could test them out at home and work. Adjustments were made to ensure she can now hear people on the phone at work more clearly and she can even connect her hearing aids to her mobile phone, making chatting to family and friends much easier. Now in her sixties, she has found she can enjoy going out to restaurants, the theatre and concerts with her husband David again. "We don't need the TV up so loud now because I can stream it straight to my hearing aids," she says, She urges anyone who thinks they might have a hearing problem to seek help from Amplifon. "I just wish I'd seen them years ago," she adds. ■