Assessment of a direct referral hearing aid clinic

A direct referral hearing aid clinic (DRHAC) was set up at the Manor Hospital, Walsall, in which patient management was undertaken by an experienced senior medical technical officer in audiology and re-evaluated by an otolaryngologist. After 2 years of offering the service, we audited our experience which is presented in part one of this article. We attempted to assess the referral protocol in part two of the article. During the 2 years, general practitioners referred 458 first-time hearing aid users to the DRHAC. Of these, 91.3% were satisfactorily managed by the audiology department, although only 241 (52.6%) fitted the guidelines developed by the liaison group of the Technicians, Therapists and Scientists in Audiology (TTSA), a lower percentage than expected by the liaison group. All patients who failed to fulfil the TTSA guidelines at the DRHAC were further studied. This revealed that none of the TTSA criteria could be disregarded, but that relying on the experience of the general practitioner and audiologist is an appropriate method for excluding those patients requiring otolaryngological evaluation. It also indicated that the age of 60 years is a suitable limit for patient referrals.