Sign inUK audiology "safe and effective" in NHS hands says BAA as position statement kindles debate on future of hearing health pathways
While recognising the "important role" of private hearing care delivery in providing a "broader choice" of hearing technology, the Academy defends the concept of free care and argues that the NHS is best placed and equipped to continue delivering audiology services.
A robust position statement by the British Academy of Audiology (BAA) has firmly defended the capacity of the NHS to deliver adult hearing care in the UK.
The principle of free care is underscored by the document, which includes the provision of hearing aids and rehabilitation, while the BAA argues that the state pathway is ʺsafe and effectiveʺ and ʺbest placed to offer evidence-based assessment and management, scientific leadership, integrated pathways, and provide hearing healthcareʺ.
Released weeks after the launch of a campaign by the retail optics and audiology chain Specsavers to push the UK’s new Government to consider a primary care community audiology service, the BAA position statement – The Future of NHS Adult Hearing Loss Management – now stokes a debate whose abiding essence of state vs private is surrounded by a complex professional and industrial panorama in a country whose funding difficulties are the stuff of daily sparring in politics and the media.
The press communique from the association underlined the BAA’s opposition to ʺvoucher schemes and anything which risks fragmenting and ultimately privatising parts of the pathway by stealthʺ. And the position paper itself suggests that private sector involvement in both dentistry and ophthalmology has brought negative results, and quotes a Royal College of Ophthalmology report that ʺ60% of its members feel that private sector involvement is having a negative impact on patient careʺ.
©BAA (composition AWN)
The BAA does, however, concede in its list of statement principles that it ʺrecognises the important role the private sector plays in hearing care provision in the UK through offering a broader choice of hearing aid styles and features than typically available via the NHSʺ.
For a fuller understanding of the BAA position, read this issue’s interview with BAA President Samantha Lear and Vice President Claire Benton. The full BAA position statement is available at https://www.baaudiology.org/app/uploads/2024/08/BAA-Position-Statement-on-NHS-Adult-Hearing-Loss-Management-190824.pdf
Source: BAA
