Hearing aid batteries ... at your library!

Hearing aid users can now pick up replacement batteries from their local library.

This is thanks to a new partnership scheme introduced by South Lanarkshire Council, NHS Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC).

Hearing aid user Tom Berney said: “This is a wonderful idea. I have always had to go to the hospital and wait in a long queue, because audiology is such an in-demand service, but this makes it so much easier and more convenient.”

The project began when the council’s Seniors Together team noticed the difficulties that many people encounter when needing to replace the batteries for their hearing aids.

Manager Christine Calder said: “Through talking to older people, we found that it is not always easy to be able to pick up replacement hearing-aid batteries when they are needed. For example, it may be difficult to travel to a clinic, or people who are employed may find it hard to take time off work just when the clinic is running.

“We raised the issue with the NHS and the libraries service, and this great solution is the result.”

Councillor Jim McGuigan, South Lanarkshire’s spokesman for Older People, said: “A good hearing aid is so essential for many people – it can be the difference between feeling cut off from the world and enjoying all that being able to hear can bring to our lives.

“Considering that something as simple as making batteries more accessible can play such a big part in bringing the benefits of hearing to people, then it is wonderful to see the launch of this project.”

SLLC Libraries Coordinator Fiona Renfrew said: “This service will be available in every one of our 23 libraries, including the mobile library and the Library Home Delivery Service. As well as being open every weekday, most libraries are open on a Saturday and late one evening a week.

“Anyone with an NHS hearing aid just needs to bring their Hearing Aid Service Book to be updated. They will then be provided with their new batteries and the libraries staff will recycle the old ones.”

We raised the issue with the NHS and the libraries service...