Hearing aids

Have had NHS Hearing aids for over 20 years now. At first just for one ear, and rather large. Over that time, the aids have got smaller and smaller and more and more efficient. Always attended the Audiology Department of my local large hospital.
When I moved, I was sent a list of places to attend including a SpecSavers just round the corner to where I lived. Was very suspcious about this, But went along for appointment the following week.
They were lovely and highly efficient. This was just pre-covid. They gave me a full new testing and then talked me through the new aids they would be supplying (I did keep saying to them, that I was only interested in NHS ones). Within a short time I got these and am veryhappy with them.

They supply batteries as I need them. Have twice lost one pulling off masks, etc. and they have managed to get a replacement for within 24 hours (albeit at the cost of £70 each time - I am very,very careful now). Cannot fault the NHS ones in any way and am totally lost without these in my ears. Nobody can even see them behind my ears, under my hair.

One of my SiL's needed NHS hearing aids, but was unable to cope with the nrmal 'behind the ear' ones due to a skin condition, and the NHS then made in tiny in-ear ones.

I had a free hearing test at Specsavers about three years ago and was told I would benefit from hearing aids, but it was ok to leave it for a year. From that day I developed tinnitus in both ears. With Covid, I have not been back. Our Specsavers does not do NHS aids anyway. I did goto the GP, who was not very interested and did not make a referral, just told me I would have to learn to live with tinnitus, which I do.

We have hearing aids via NHS. My dh has profound hearing needs in both ears.
I can stand next to him and bellow at the top of my voice but he won’t be able to hear. Specsavers have supplied his hearing aids for a few years. The NHS digital aids have changed his life. I have hearing problems but nowhere so severe so have different types. Specsavers tried to sell me private ones but told them that I would try NHS ones first. I am glad I did. I can get batteries free of charge and have regular hearing tests.

Had a friend who paid £8K for a pair and abandonned them, as could not get on with them.
maybe, I've been lucky!

Was told well before retiring that I had noise related hearing loss.
GP referred me to the local Audiology centre. Within 30 minutes, walked out wearing two NHS aids, tuned to my hearing profile, and hearing, for the first time in a LONG time, wet grass squelch under my feet.
Am now on my third pair (Analogue replaced, by NHS, after three years, second, digital after 5 years, as overdue)
Only problem is that occasionally a note in music will set one into oscillation for a few seconds FAR better than the tinnitus when they are out at bedtime!.

Not all areas use Specsavers, ours does and the service is very good and easy to use. Glasses and contact lenses too, very well organized, unlike some others.

DH has had great hearing aids and audio tests from the NHS. Here, we use the NHS Audiology dept and batteries are free and local.

Whist DH was away he had to attend Specsaver/NHS. He’d managed to loose one and replacements were over £150. Our local NHS replace at a cost of £50 each. Obviously different NHS areas have differing charge costs but I was very surprised and cross about the amount Specsavers wanted to charge.

NHS for hearing aids every time

I had NHS hearing aids that I got from the hospital audiology department. The aids and the department were super. Audiology is now farmed out to SpecSavers who supply a different make of aids which are not as good as the hospital audiology department hearing aids.

I suppose this is an example of privatisation.

Privately paid for hearing aids are so costly. Why not try the NHS ones before you spend all that money?

I’ve just been given hearing aids by the NHS. The service was good and I find they make a difference when watching tv. The audiologist said I didn’t need to wear them all the time if I didn’t want to but having had an interesting trip to the dentist when I didn’t understand a word he said, I’m going to wear them more often. My main hurdle has been my vanity and I know I need to overcome that as I feel very selfish thinking like that when any.much younger people have to live with hearing loss.

I have NHS hearing aids and they are fantastic. Because I wear heavy glasses and mask I requested that I had the smaller hearing aids,initially that was turned down but I appealed and now I have the smaller ones and they are absolutely fine… I think it’s disgraceful what boots and Specs savers charge

I was shocked to hear that Specsavers are wanting to sell you such expensive hearing aids! I have been getting hearing aids on the NHS through our local Specsavers for about 4 years now. Whenever I have asked if private hearing aids are any better they have told me that the NHS ones are just as good. They update me to new models regularly and I have a supply of free batteries. As Oldbat1 says above, not all Specsavers have the agency for NHS hearing aids. I would get a referral from your GP to the NHS.

Not all areas can use Specsavers to access NHS aids. Our area doesn’t. I became a hearing aid user during Covid in Feb this year. The hearing aids provided by the nhs in my area are Phonak and are current top of range. My mother in law paid over £3000 for aids which were identical to NHS ones. She thought if she paid they would be superior - this was not the case. Do give the NHS a chance. Yes you may have to join a queue - I waited 16wks during height of Covid. Good luck. Mine have made a huge difference but we still use sub titles on TV.

Thank you for your advice everyone. Think I will ask for a referral to NHS and see how i get on .

I've had NHS hearing aids from Specsavers for several years now. I find they work perfectly well and the batteries are free. After I had my hearing tested at Specsavers I had to go to my GP and get him to refer me to them before I could get the aids.

My DH had hearing aids for both ears, organised via our
local opticians, who had an audiologist available once a month, cost £3.500 for both + approximately £25 per month for batteries. At that time DH was developing Dementia and kept taking them in and out, with the result that one got lost. I turned the house upside down but aid was not to be found. I had listed the aids on the household insurance and they did pay out, but the replacement aid had to come from Germany, took ages and I had to pay for audiologist to come and fit it. Then DH became resident in a care home, where one/ other or both kept disappearing /reappearing in the oddest places. He was more often without them than with. The Insurance would not pay out as he no longer lived at home.

After a while he had a small stroke resulting in a fall and broken hip. Admitted to hospital, had successful hip replacement then referred for physio, but as his aids (and false teeth) had vanished - X Ray department got the blame! he could neither hear nor talk properly so physio was hopeless.

I was told that if he had NHS Hearing Aids they could have replaced them immediately as the audio department in the hospital would have had his prescription.

I had already been told, after testing at Boots Chemists that I needed 2 hearing aids (at enormous expense) but after the debacle re my DH's aids, I made an appointment with the NHS where I was much more thoroughly tested and prescribed totally different aids than the ones recommended by Boots. The new aids arrived within a week and due to Covid restrictions, I was coached through using them by video call. A couple of months ago I realised I had lost one - It is not easy wearing Hearing Aids, Glasses and a Mask - but one phone call, replacement aid with me in 2 days - No charge whatsoever. Also I have a card which entitles me to collect batteries as required from various locations, nearest being Village Library.

NHS v Private? No contest NHS every time.

The NHS aids that my wife and I have are digital with volume controls, microphone selection for different circumstances (we didn't opt for that), induction setting for theatres. They are custom tunes to our respective hearing deficiencies and have, of course, bespoke ear moulds. They do not amplify general sound, only those frequencies that we've each lost sensitivity to. They work brilliantly. The only feature I would like but is not available on these models is Bluetooth. Batteries are free of charge so I couldn't care less about rechargeable ones. Why anyone gives a second thought to going private and having their wallet emptied I really do not comprehend. My elder sister (seventeen years my senior) has had both private and NHS and has defaulted back to NHS as she finds them better. They will not restore your hearing to that of a twenty year old, but they really do improve things vastly.

Just call your GP and ask to be referred to a hearing centre, Specsavers or others will do the rest, it’s that straightforward.

takes lets you put your postcode in

takes you to a page that lets you put your postcode in

Jaffacake2 If you go to this thread you will see in the third post that some Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) are working with Specsavers. Hearing is not on the NHS Low-Income Benefit; this is available for all on the NHS as far as I can see. I don't know the details of this but it is worth a look.

There is a link on that post that takes lets you put your postcode in. That will show you if your CCG has commissioned them in your area.

I suggest trying NHS and if not satisfied look elsewhere. My experience was that NHS in my area was very slow and a bit hit and miss. So I ended up going to Boots, good service but pricey! But I think NHS service varies from one area to another as shown by nonograns story above. Good luck

We paid £3000 for my mother’s hearing aids in an NHS clinic. We were told that her hearing was so bad (they showed us the test results) that the NHS aids wouldn’t help. We are paying off over 12 months.

I am a bilateral NHS hearing aid user since 2002. NHS audiology services in my area of the South West have not been diminished during C19.
I have recently been routinely called for replacement hearing aids. A little bit later than planned but nevertheless the service was excellent & my audiologist did say they were getting back on target for tests & new aids or replacement updates.
My area now provides digital hearing aids which are amazing. I can but only if I wish, adjust mine via an app on my mobile to suit my environment.
Our audiology department is run by a not for profit organisation called Chime who are on contract to the NHS. Their customer service is amazing. I can “walk in” anytime for my aids to be re-tubed or repaired/replaced if one gets lost (headscarves or face masks can pull them out unnoticed) either at our general hospital or in our city centre.
Going off piste a little, during my last test in September it was concluded that since my last test for new aids 5 years previously, hearing in one ear had diminished a lot. I was referred for an MRI brain scan very quickly & efficiently & glad to say, no fault found. The NHS isn’t so overwhelmed for everything you know!
So, get yourself an NHS appointment before you spend thousands for aids which will probably be very little different from NHS ones and ……..
Use subtitles in your telly to stop the volume being too loud for others!! Easy peasy!

That price is a lot less than I paid ! My neighbour has NHS aids and complains all the time about them , I forget I have mine in , just great for hearing and the kids turn the tv up now , not me