Hearing Aids - Specsavers

Savvy_Sue

hybernia said:

So. Now he's with the NHS, the marked deterioration in his hearing occurring in the immediate wake of a stroke. We had to travel 22 miles to the nearest specialist audiology department to be tested and then, because of the way the pandemic shut down just about the entire NHS (to nonurgent cases) he didn 't get his hearing aids until mid-July. 

They've come with a small instruction manual featuring 3pt type (perhaps it's a simultaneous eye test, too) with little illustrations showing him how to alter the volume on the devices and sundry other things. However, every such illustration has had a diagonal line drawn through it with a pen. When he asked why this was so, at the time of receiving the aids, he was told 'user-operated controls' were disabled: the NHS doesn't like patients 'altering things'.

He loathes the aids. The sensitivity is over-acute and the volume is much too loud for comfort; his own voice and breathing are greatly over amplified. He could (presumably\) have done something about this by altering the device controls to suit. But he can't. The hospital department dealing with him told him to get in touch after 1 month to let them know if everything was OK or if the devices needed adjusting, in which case they'd simply call him in and sort out the situation there and then. Easy peasy..

So he contacted them in mid-August to ask if something could be done to adjust the volume / sensitivity of the heaing aids, thinking that as they'd promised a quick turnaround, he'd hear back fairly soon.

Well, it's now the beginning of October and still no word from the audiology department. And he's still stuck with non adjustable hearing aids disabled by the NHS itself.

He's beginning to wonder if, despite his previous experiences, he "should've gone to Specsavers". The NHS experience is frustrating in the extreme:as the manufacturer of a hearing aid incorporates into the device the ability to fine-tune it to the user's individual preference, neither he nor I can see why the NHS should disable those controls and demand that the patient wait weeks and travel miles just so the NHS can involve itself all over again. I actually thought NHS staff (including hospital audiology departments) were all supposed to be over-worked and underpaid.

This isn't universal: for a brief period I had a hearing aid where I couldn't change the volume, and I too hated it. I was fairly quickly able to change it for a model where I could alter the volume. And fortunately, my last two appointments were with someone who LISTENED to me when I said that 90% of the time my first act on switching the aid on would be to turn the volume down, or change it off the main setting to just pick up what was in front of me. So now they look at what the machine tells them the settings should be, and tweak it down a notch or two ... 

Sadly, he's probably going to have to become a squeaky wheel: keep phoning / emailing until his name gets to the top of the list. 

jhussain121

Hi everyone, just joined, hoping someone will help. So currently have the normal nhs hearing aids, but now i want to invest in some in the ear aids most probably from specsavers. I know they are abit pricey but its something i need socialy and work environment. My question is do they offer finance on the hearings aids? Has anyone purchased them on finance? If you have is it like a normal credit check process? Etc. Thankyou

giraffe69

Boots offer interest free credit over 24 months. I recently got new aids. The app that several on this thread have referred to worked from the first minute because they took 5 minutes to help set it up. I looked at prices did not find Specsavers cheaper for what I wanted which as some Phonak aids.

pustit

Just a few comments 
(about) five years ago my mum's NHS hearing appointment was "farmed off" to Specsavers.  After the appointment we commented on how that was an appropriate expression !  Anyhow, Specsavers announced mum was so profoundly deaf in her left ear that they could not help so only gave her a fitment for her slightly better right ear.  (cynical me thinks the NHS were billed for the two).
A couple of years later her hearing worsened and we decided to go to Hidden Hearing. It was a revelation !  The technician admitted her left ear was indeed v. poor but he tweaked away on his computer screen and tuned in both earpieces independently to their optimum functionality. 
Mum's hearing was instantly better. No more shouting at her. The technician stressed both earpieces must always be used together to maintain a "balance" as the better right ear helps the bad left ear.
Very expensive but we think it was money well spent.  Her 3rd, and last, free check-up is due next week actually.  Free batteries offered for the first three years, will buy on internet from now on at about half the price Hidden Hearing charge !