Swansea Bay praised for helping set the standard for community-based audiology

Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Jeremy Miles had high praise for staff involved in an innovative primary care audiology service.

Mr Miles visited Clydach Primary Care Centre, within the Cwmtawe Local Cluster Collaborative, where he witnessed the service in action.

During his visit he launched the Future Approach for Audiology Services, which will build on the successful model established in Swansea Bay, as well as a model established in North Wales.

The new approach will move a range of hearing services from hospitals into local communities to reduce pressure on hospital ENT departments, GP surgeries and community nursing services.

Pictured: Jeremy Miles (centre) with members of staff from Swansea Bay and elsewhere.

“Improving access to audiology appointments, by moving them out of hospital and into local communities, will make a real difference to people,” Mr Miles said.

“I’m delighted to see this happening already in Swansea and to see how many people have an easier – and faster – experience because they can get the help they need on their doorstep.

“Wales has led the way with primary care audiology, and I know other parts of the UK are looking to follow this pioneering work.

“We are prioritising early intervention and timely treatment, while also reducing demand on GPs and making it easier for people with more serious conditions to be seen in hospital.”

After starting in 2015, a major transformation of Swansea Bay’s primary care audiology services in 2022 saw designated clinics launch in each cluster area.

The clinics allow patients with hearing problems, tinnitus or problematic wax to phone their surgery’s telephone triage system and book directly to see one of the primary care audiology teams.

It replaced the previous system which included a surgery appointment with a GP or practice nurse, who would then refer the patient to the hospital-based audiology team.

Pictured: Swansea Bay’s head of audiology, Sarah Theobald, with Jeremy Miles.

The service has helped to reduce waiting times for patients and made their care more accessible as it is now provided closer to their homes.

It has also helped to free up time for GPs to see other patients too.

The service covers everything from a simple hearing test to assessing a sudden onset of hearing loss.

Staff have also undergone additional training in wax removal techniques to deal with more complex cases.

Audiologist Sulaiman Ali said: “We work closely with hospital-based colleagues in ENT (Ears, Nose and Throat), especially for more complex cases or if a patient has abnormalities with their ear.”

The Future Approach for Audiology Services aligns with Welsh Government’s vision of bringing care closer to home to help reduce unnecessary hospital visits, as well as waiting lists.

Swansea Bay’s Head of Audiology, Sarah Theobald, said: “The Future Approach is an exciting piece of work, a long time in development.

“Lots of people have been involved and worked really hard to get us to this point.

“In Swansea Bay, we developed the pathway for primary care audiology, and it was later rolled out across our clusters.

“We have since developed a dementia pathway and school entry hearing screening as part of the pathway.

“The Futures Approach will also build on previous work to develop hearing pathways for people at risk of dementia and on the successful national school entry hearing screening pathway.”