Left to right: Judith Bird and Richard Knight

Audiologists at Addenbrooke’s Hospital have won a national award for research which is helping them run their clinics more efficiently.

Audiological scientists Judith Bird and Richard Knight collected data about the open-access hearing aid repair clinics held at the hospital every weekday. The sessions are often busy, partly since the introduction of digital hearing aids (all new aids fitted by the Addenbrooke’s team are digital), which require more time to repair, and also simply because the number of patients with hearing loss is increasing as people are living longer and seeking help with their hearing earlier.

This could mean long waits for the patients, and a challenging working environment for the audiologists.

“After looking at the data, we now know which sessions are the busiest and the types of hearing aid faults we can expect,” says Judith Bird. “This helps us to plan our manpower and decide which aids to use, helping the service to run as efficiently and effectively as possible.

“The clinics are flowing more smoothly now, and patients are not waiting as long. It means we can respond to the increased demand in an effective way.”

Judith and Richard wrote up their findings for a paper published by the British Society of Audiology (BSA), and have won the Jos Millar Shield for the best paper published in the BSA News. They will collect their award at the BSA Annual Conference in September.

Speaking about the award, Judith said: “We are honoured that something we did to get the clinics running better has received an award. It’s great to be acknowledged.”

Notes to editors
• There are nearly 9 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK.
• Around 40% of over 50-year-olds will have some kind of hearing loss, and this figure increases to around 70% of over 70-year-olds.
(Source: Royal National Institute for Deaf People.)
• The audiology department at Addenbrooke’s looks after children and adults with hearing loss, as well as running a vestibular service for patients with balance problems and one of the best-established tinnitus clinics in the country.

For further information, please contact Emma Oram, Press Officer, Communications Department, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ Tel: 01223 274433 Fax: 01223 257143 Email: emma.oram@addenbrookes.nhs.uk

Last updated: 16 Aug 2006