Bournemouth and Poole Community Health Services

Poole Health Scrutiny Committee

20th May 2013

AUDIOLOGY SERVICE

1.INTRODUCTION

1.1The Audiology department provides a service to patients within Bournemouth, Poole, and East Dorset (Purbeck, Christchurch and East Dorset localities).

1.2The Audiology service aims to reduce the disabilities caused by hearing loss and, in particular to provide accessible, evidence based, effective and efficient hearing assessment, hearing advice and hearing aid services for adults, children and babies.

2.SERVICE Summary

2.1The Audiology service is a proactive department continually seeking and implementing initiatives to further raise quality, patient experience and productivity. The service is working closely with user representatives, staff, higher education centres and manufacturers looking at new technologies, systems and ways of improving the services that are being delivered.

2.2Residents of Poole have the choice to access any Audiology services in the locations across Dorset that is most convenient to them. The service has extended the number of locations on offer. Locations include:- Poole HealthCare Centre; Poole Hospital; Upton; Poole Medical Centre; Wimborne; Wareham; Swanage; Pelham’s; Highcliffe; St Leonards hospital and Shelley Rd clinic, Boscombe.

2.3In response to patient feedback and demand, the service has also extended the types of treatments available in locations. Examples of this include Poole HealthCare Centre where repair clinics were initially the only treatment available and in response to patient feedback, the service now operates repair clinics, booked Audiology appointments and ENT clinics.

2.4The service operates home visits by Audiologists to Poole residents who are housebound.

2.5The department has a well established Volunteer service of 14 volunteers and growing who are also service users. They support patients in their homes as well as feedback their and other patients’ views on ways the service can improve.

2.6The service is delivering to National Referral to Assessment (RTA) and Referral to Treatment Targets (RTT). These are six week for RTA and 18 weeks for RTT. The service strives to see patients in the fastest time possible while maintaining equity and equal access to all patients. This is currently achieved by the centralisation of appointments. Current waiting times are 5 weeks for RTA and 11-12 weeks for RTT

2.7The service is continually looking at effective ways to manage demand whilst providing opportunities for staff development. Examples of this work can be seen through the rotational work experience offered in different specialities and the development of staffs’ including Audiology assistants’ competencies to expand the work they are able to undertake.

3.PATIENT AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT

3.1Feedback and User involvement are sought from a variety of ways including; forums involving volunteers who are users of the service; hand held feedback devices; patient surveys as well as compliments and complaints.

3.2The service now follows up the feedback given and shares this with Users through “You said, We did” posters in key locations including at Poole HealthCare Centre. The service aims to carry on this initiative twice yearly.

4.SERVICE DEVELOPMENTS

4.1The service has redesigned patient pathways to enable a large group of patients to be assessed and fitted with their hearing aids on the same day. This was implemented in January 2013 and will improve waiting times.

4.2The service has also recently updated its technological system Practice Navigator to enable improved monitoring of patient’s care plan and treatments. The service is also working with the system to enable electronic reports to be generated to give to patients on the day of their assessment and send to GPs electronically.

4.3The service carried out an audit of the walk in repair clinics and identified long waiting times. The service has put in place improved access to follow ups after assessment and FIT and it is hoped that this will reduce pressure on the number of Users needing to attend walk in repair clinics. The service is also investing in additional Audiology assistants to support repair clinics. The service aims to see patients within 60 minutes. On average at Poole the waiting time is 45 minutes however this fluctuates with demand.

4.4Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust is investing in a new IT system. This will enable the service to improve the flexibility of making appointments at the time of a patient’s visit or telephone call while still maintaining equal access and waiting time for all.

4.5The Audiology service in September 2012 was accredited as Practice Development Unit by BournemouthUniversity. The service is also working towards being accredited by the National Improving Quality in Physiological diagnostic Services (IQIPS) programme.