About our service

The audiology department provides hearing assessment following a direct patient referral from a GP.  Our team select, programme and fit digital hearing aids for adults and provide follow-up hearing aid consultations, hearing aid repair clinics and battery issue.

Reassessments are also available where necessary.

Audiology also provides support for ENT clinics, together with:

• Brainstem testing
• Balance testing and rehabilitation
• Tinnitus assessment and counselling

Advice and contacting us

For people who have hearing aids from Wye Valley Trust (WVT) Audiology Department, please see the phone number on the right hand side of this page, or email audiology@wvt.nhs.uk (Monday to Friday) for free advice on how we can help.

Repairs - please do not come to the Audiology Department without an appointment, as walk in repairs are no longer available. However, we may be able to offer you a booked repair appointment or another solution which can be arranged in advance, over the phone or via email. 

For people who need a hearing test and haven’t seen us before, you will need to ask your GP for a referral to our service.

FREE Hearing loss badges for those struggling with communication due to face masks 
If you, or anyone you know, is trying to cope with a hearing loss and face masks, we are able to provide free hearing loss badges.  If you think one of these badges would help, please contact our audiology department and we will send one out to you (free of charge). Just let us know which badge is required as there is a choice of three as pictured right. Email Audiology@wvt.nhs.uk

Additional information 

Paediatric and children's hearing aid services are at Ross Road Clinic.

Staff

• Head of Service Samantha Cooper
• Chief Audiologist Nigel Perry
• Paediatric Clinical Scientist Michelle Little
• Senior Audiologist/Hearing Therapist Jackie Paddock
• Senior Audiologist Alison Stather-Hooper 
• Senior Audiologist Charlotte Turtle
• Senior Paediatric Audiologist Deborah Heath
• Senior Audiologist Gemma Knapman-Nuttall
• Senior Audiologist Rebecca Mould
• Senior Audiologist Stine Lawton-Smith
• Associate Audiological Practitioner Eleanor Brown   
• Associate Audiological Practitioner Achuma Fihla
• Associate Audiological Practitioner Phillipa Evans
• Paediatric Senior Assistant Technical Officer Debra Hollis
• Senior Assistant Technical Officer Frank Anderson
• Admin lead Denise Prothero
• School Hearing Screener Shelley Oliver

Helpful information

Below are some useful links to provide more information.

• Drop in sessions with Deaf Direct– currently closed at all sites. 
  
  
• Useful links to videos that may help you with cleaning you hearing aid and replacing the tubing. 

How to clean your slim tube hearing aid 

How to clean your earmould hearing aid 

Please note if you do not have the cleansing beaker and sieve as suggested in the video. Warm soapy water is fine.

How to replace your earmould tubing

C2 Hear online click here is a very useful website with lots of videos and information to help with your hearing aids.

•  Managing tinnitus - there are still many other things that you can do to help manage your tinnitus:

•Wear your hearing aids – if you have hearing loss, hearing aids will help both your hearing and your tinnitus. Hearing aids don’t work in a drawer!

•Sound therapy – if the noises seem louder at night or quiet times, it may help to have some natural or gentle sound from an app, CD, sound generator or even a fan or ticking clock in the background.

•Relaxation – learning to relax properly is probably one of the most useful things you can do. Check out some of our information, including ideas for relaxation without sound. If you have a smart phone, there are some excellent free relaxation apps available.

•Take on Tinnitus – this is our free tinnitus management e-programme, which guides you through some facts about tinnitus and helps identify some simple strategies to keep it under control. You can find it here:

• Take on Tinnitus

Reach out - If you need a friendly voice or understanding contact, we will continue to provide confidential tinnitus support throughout this period. Our helpline remains open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and you can contact us in the following ways:

•Phone: 0800 018 0527

•Web chat – click the let’s chat icon on this page

•Text: 07537 416841

•Email: helpline@tinnitus.org.uk

www.tinnitus.org.uk

Useful Links

Action deafness