Are private hearing aids better than NHS?

Tom99

Archergirl wrote: »

My thoughts are have the tests,they pick up things early so prevent further problems, (a cervical smear saved my life) all I said was batteries, not even hearing aids, can’t really see a problem sorry.
My reasoning is that they are not ‘free’ they have to be paid for by the NHS, any way in which we are able to mitigate the cost to the NHS must be a good thing. If it is a hardship to you by all means get them.

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The NHS as a whole will get through millions and millions of hearing aid batteries each year so they will have had enormous negotiating power in purchasing these and will be paying only a tiny fraction of what a hearing aid user will pay if they buy them privately.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]It therefore makes sense to take advantage of this enormous discount.[/FONT]

lyndy_lou

private hearing aids, just bought 2, nearly 3k but best money I have spent. Worth every penny

missile

Tom99 wrote: »

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The NHS as a whole will get through millions and millions of hearing aid batteries each year so they will have had enormous negotiating power in purchasing these and will be paying only a tiny fraction of what a hearing aid user will pay if they buy them privately.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]It therefore makes sense to take advantage of this enormous discount.[/FONT]

Wish that were true. I hear that many items purchased by NHS are at inflated prices.:eek: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6269173/Failure-stop-medicine-rip-offs-costing-NHS-200-million-year.html

derekpicton

Hi Lindy lou

You say you have just bought 2 for 3k my question is did you try NHS ones before getting private and if so how would you rate the difference?
Or anyone else who has experience of both.
I have had NHS one for last 12 years but the last 2 have been awful From 2 different NHS providers I have found my 4 year old ones are far far better than the most recent ones even tried 5 adjustments very frustrating

Skibunny40

My DH has both and says there's very little difference in terms of hearing. However, from a vanity/comfort point of view, the private ones are much better.

He buys batteries for both from Costco and they're very reasonable!

Savvy_Sue

I have two siblings who have both 'gone private' to deal with very severe loss. One went back to NHS but there were definitely more 'features' available with the private provider.

However, both have now had Cochlear Implants fitted and it has revolutionised their lives! You do have to be very deaf before you can be considered (another sibling has been turned down) and provision may vary from one area to another. Just putting the suggestion out there.

justme111

My dad had both. Yes private ones are defo better. Saying that it depends how good an audiologist you have as I am sure not a great one could make private ones not so great and other way round but the odds in general are for private to be better.

mr_morritt

I'm three months in now trying private hearing aids with mixed results.

The NHS hearing aids were fitted and checked using REM technology i.e. real ear measurement and worked pretty good straight away. The trust told me that they had got the hearing aids in this year 2018 March and were the latest available. I think the phonak hearing aids are a few years old technology. I have a high hearing loss struggling to hear the wifes voice and high pitched voices generally.
I find with the NHS hearing aids I do get a bit of white noise on top o noisy environments such as train stations and kitchen/resteraunts sounds a little high.

I've just tried the latest Phonak Marvel hearing aids from boots costing 3000 with the latest bluetooth technology. Boots do not use REM to verify fit. I've been back twice now and the hearing aids don't seem as good as my NHS ones. They have lots of features with bluetooth (unreliable) and do seem to amplify very well but the background white noise I get with the hearing aids is no better than the NHS in some environments (not all). The strange thing is the clarity of speech is way better with the NHS hearing aids.

I've also tried expensive widex beyond hearing aids from specsavers. I ended up having these turned up way past my prescription and they actually worked slightly better than the NHS and had better noise reduction.
I also tried some siemens charge & go and they had superb natural voice which worked fantastic. However, again speech understanding was no better than the NHS. Noise reduction at translation, pubs was slightly better.

My overall conclusion is that the NHS although not perfect are pretty good. Private hearing aids have more features but speech understanding is no better and certainly not worth paying 3000 pounds for. I don't think the technology is their yet in the hearing aids to warrant the price.
By the way the price breakdown shows that the hearing aids actually cost something like 600 pounds and the rest of the cost goes to the practice i.e. boots or specsavers

justaquestion

Private hearing test will probably last 30-40 mins but that is because they are really trying to sell you one, whereas NHS I found maybe 5-10 mins, nothing to sell.

Private hearing tests usually have a few little clever tests, trying to convince you so as to swing the deal.

I managed to get the cost price of NHS one time through a search online aids started around £90 for NHS to buy, you can be sure same aids probably cost over £700 each at private.

High st shops, advertising, salaries, people to keep calling you up. That is what you pay for when you buy privately.

CaptJack

I have NHS hearing aids, and I've also tried private aids too from one of the big High Street names. Personally I prefer my NHS aids. They work perfectly well, and the support from the local NHS audiology service really is excellent.

The private ones I tried were definitely better acoustically, but the difference was only marginal. For me the really big advantages of the NHS aids are:

1. Cost - NHS hearing aids are free for life. Private ones will cost up to £5,000 or even more a set. As any hearing aid wears out after 3 or 4 years the total cost of private aids will add up over time.

2. Fiddle - My NHS aids are the behind-the-ear type, with tiny plastic tubes and the little silicone "mushrooms" that lodge in the ear canal. These are easy to fit, completely comfortable, and simple to keep clean. The private aids fitted behind my ears, but had tiny speakers on thin wires that were placed inside each ear. These looked much like the NHS ones, but had so-called "wax traps" that needed to be changed every month, along with the soft plastic mushrooms that also had to be changed each month. These are not free. The private aids were much more fiddly to look after, and did not feel as robust as the NHS ones. The private aids also used up batteries more quickly - a set every 4 or 5 days compared with 8 or 9 days with my NHS aids.

3. Convenience. The nearest private supplier to me is a shop in the next town 15 miles away. The NHS hospital in my home town is only small, but has an audiology service that is open even on a Saturday. I can collect batteries any time, and making any appointments is simply a matter of a sending an email, in response to which I'll get a phone call the same day.

4. Customer care. The NHS audiologists work in sound-proofed rooms, and seem to have more time for their patients. The private shop had a little booth, but it didn't seem to me to be as well-equipped as the hospital. Also, I got the feeling that the private people are more rushed - maybe it's because they are trying to sell you something.

I'm sure that if your local NHS audiology service isn't that great then private aids have to be a consideration. But I'd definitely try the NHS first. You might be pleasantly surprised.