Audiology and optical career paths are verging closer together thanks to better NHS provision of community health services.
Jeet Saimbi, professional services director at Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care, welcomes Optician to the company’s practice in Willenhall to discuss community services and a new NHS England framework for hearing care.
She is an experienced contact lens optician at Scrivens, which competes with Boots, Specsavers and the Outside Clinic in offering optical and hearing services under one roof, delivered by audiologists, hearing aid dispensers and hearing care assistants.
Saimbi explains how caring for both of these senses within the same practice is a natural progression.
She says: ‘Hearing care is just like eye care. I can remember when I was a child I could not see the blackboard without wearing glasses – glasses weren’t fashionable then and I couldn’t wait to get my contact lenses sorted out – but people love glasses now and have no issues at all about wearing them.
‘Audiology really is as rewarding as optics. We are helping people to hear their grandchildren, their friends and their music properly. All of this is extremely rewarding.
‘There are also a huge number of clinical parallels because you are in essence looking in and around the ear for any problems, just as you would look at the back of the eye. People are picking up on a neuroma or middle ear issues through hearing checks, so it is a health screening as well as addressing hearing requirements.
‘In addition, as with contact lenses there are such a lot of improvements in hearing products. A hearing aid system needs to be able to adapt to all kinds of environments. It’s quite challenging. The electronics are so incredible, including the microchips in them, what they do and how fast they work.
‘At Scrivens, our staff work together as a team. It isn’t a case of this is hearing and that is optics, and that has been a passion of mine.’
Indeed, the company’s general induction process for front of house staff includes a demonstration of what hearing loss involves.
Saimbi says: ‘Hearing loss can impact upon lifestyles in all sorts of ways. It’s one of those things that gradually creeps up on people. The first thing that happens when people can’t hear something is they just withdraw from social events and become isolated.
Companies will often sponsor audiology training and sometimes university courses
‘The good news is that if you get care early enough then you may be able to slow down the rate of change, which is very important. This is why we need to fully get over the initial reluctance to wear hearing aids that some people have.’
While the vast majority of patients requiring a hearing system are in the older age bracket, the general population may be creating a potential issue for itself by prolonged earphone usage.
‘It is a recognised fact many people over the age of 55 notice their hearing is starting to deteriorate. Soon after that they may need to have a hearing system to assist them.
‘In addition, with earphones commonplace among younger people, this average age will probably be bought forward. That’s life as it is now – you can’t go onto a train without people having their music on and using earphones to hear it. This will result in the earlier onset of hearing loss. So the potential for it to escalate is there,’ Saimbi adds.
Improved patient journey
While Scrivens’ practice in central Willenhall is fully decked out with spectacle display units and a large reception area, audiology services are prominently displayed and communicated by a strong presence of hearing care assistants. Patients arrive for a sight or hearing test before later returning for their spectacles, contact lenses or hearing aids during a simple trip into town.
However, much like optics, the patient journey has not always been so straightforward and still has room for improvement.
Saimbi says: ‘When I first entered optics in the 1960s you had to go to the GP first to get a referral for an eye test. It’s almost exactly the same with hearing now, you have to go to the GP to get a referral to come and see us. Without that we can’t provide an NHS hearing aid.
‘At this moment in time not every CCG or every part of England offers this service either. Each CCG decides on whether it wants to offer wider choice by providing an NHS hearing service in the community, and not all have decided to do this.
‘As a result, some CCGs are now operating on a self-referral basis which means people can come directly to us for a hearing assessment without the need to go to their GP. I’m sure as times change this will evolve as well. The National Commissioning Framework for Hearing Care is the first big step in the right direction.’
In addition to testing, Scrivens staff also troubleshoot when hearing aid filters get blocked or batteries need changing.
‘Aftercare is extremely important and makes all the difference. A few years ago when they looked into people being fitted with hearing aids in hospitals the biggest issue was that they weren’t being worn and had ended up in drawers because the help and ongoing aftercare just wasn’t there,’ says Saimbi.
Getting trained
Hearing care career opportunities within Scrivens are bolstered by a training scheme for hearing aid dispensers at Aston University. Front of house staff are also supported in progressing to become hearing care assistants, before training to be hearing aid dispensers. Scrivens also sponsors audiology graduates through university.
‘I’ve been with Scrivens for 42 years and I don’t remember a time when we didn’t train hearing aid dispensers. In a similar way to how optics has progressed, it’s far more comprehensive now and leads to a highly regarded qualification that offers real career progress.
‘Like optics, we are also looking at additional hearing services as a company to develop our hearing aid dispensers, to scope out what higher qualifications our staff can be involved with and therefore increase their scope of practice.
‘The hearing industry of old was very different to what we need now – it was very much a sales job rather than anything else. As things have moved on, hearing qualifications and graduates have a very different role.
‘Previously, audiologists used to graduate and work in hospitals rather than in the private sector. Now graduates who train at university do work in a private environment like ours, so we sponsor and support graduates through university.
‘It is a partnership between the university and ourselves. We give them time to study and support them to do what is required of them. We ensure that they acquire comprehensive practical skills as it is our objective not just to have people graduate but to acquire the necessary clinical and commercial skills to be able to deliver to our customers,’ Saimbi adds.