MSP joins fight to save Angus hearing aid service from closure

Angus North and Mearns MSP Mairi Evans has called for a charity’s much-loved hearing aid service to be saved from closure.

Action on Hearing Loss Scotland’s community-based Hear to Help service provides lifechanging support for 600 people across Angus but will close at the end of June.

The SNP MSP expressed her concerns about the pending closure during a visit to the charity’s drop-in session in Whitehills Health and Community Care Centre in Forfar.

She spoke with Hear to Help volunteer Linda Sloan and coordinator Derek Clark who have been trained by NHS Tayside’s audiology department to clean, re-tube and adjust NHS hearing aids so that they work more effectively and are comfortable for people to wear.

The service also provides new hearing aid batteries and a range of information about assistive equipment such as amplified phones, TV listeners and vibrating or flashing alarms, which can make everyday life easier for people with hearing loss.

Action on Hearing Loss Scotland is generating enough funds every three months to keep Hear to Help running in Angus but needs £17,000 to secure the service for a full year.

The charity approached Angus Health and Social Care Partnership’s Integration Joint Board but was advised in late March that a request for funding could not be supported as their resources are currently fully committed.

Ms Evans said: “Hear to Help is clearly a crucial local community resource which makes a huge difference to the everyday lives of local NHS hearing aid users so that they can hear their family, friends and neighbours more clearly.

“It is vitally important that every effort is made to save Hear to Help in Angus as hundreds of people – especially older people with dexterity difficulties, poor sight or mobility problems – living in several of our communities will be absolutely devastated if this service closes.”