Earlier this year, NHS Forth Valley hosted the first face-to-face Scottish Audiology Heads of Service in more than three years.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, this group would meet 3-4 times a year at Perth Royal Infirmary, however, during the pandemic meetings moved online.
In 2022, the Scottish Government requested a National Review of Audiology services and the recommendations for this work are due to be implemented from June 2023. In order to take forward this work Stephanie Doody, NHS Forth Valley’s Audiology Service Manager, was keen to restart face to face meetings and offered to host the first one.
The meeting was held in the Forth Valley Sensory Centre in Camelon where our audiology staff run specialist paediatric clinics, including Universal Newborn Hearing Screening clinics (UNHS) and support children with hearing loss.
A wide range of topics were discussed including the early recommendations from the Auditory Brainstem Response Peer review and work to standardise the ‘types and timing’ of audiology appointments and agreeing standard operating procedure across NHS Scotland. Service leads were also able to share good practice and discuss emerging patient pathways.
Feedback from the meeting was so good, that NHS Forth Valley agreed to host all face-to-face events for the group in future.
Stephanie Doody, said: “This has been such an important development for the Heads of Service Group as it will allow us to meet challenges not just related to the National Review, but also to increasing demand.
“By working together, we can create a cohesive approach to improving audiology services across NHS Scotland.”
