Coronavirus (COVID-19) Audiology Services During and After the Virus 

UK-Hearing and our audiologists are committed to making sure we work to the highest standards of safety and clinical excellence to ensure the safety of our patients.

As of May 1st 2020 the government deemed that audiology services was an essential service and that we can now go back to work under the new guidelines. This mean we can provide services to you locally at your convenience. We are making sure all of our audiologists are fully up to date with the necessary PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and that they will be following strict measures to ensure both the patient's and their own safety.

We have written this article to inform you of how we are, and will continue to, adapt our services for both clinics and home visit services. UK-Hearing are going above and beyond the guidelines provided as we believe nothing is more important than the safety of both our audiologists and yourself the client. We are also receiving support from our own professional bodies to make sure we are regularly up to date with any improvements restrictions or changes to the current guidelines.

Again we at UK-Hearing want to reiterate that we are doing our upmost to minimise risk, and prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the safest and most professional manner.

Please note the information we will provide is not limited and we would be more than happy to take any further questions or concerns you may have before one of our audiologists comes out to see you, or you would like to arrange a hearing appointment. Please call us on 08003689011 or email us at info@UK-Hearing.co.uk.

List of Topics covered in this Article:

- Social Distancing, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Sanitizing.

- Who we can see and who we cant (risk levels)

- What is PPE and what should we be using?

- Remote care and how it can be beneficial.

- Screening Questions and what to ask and look out for

- What to expect with an appointment in a clinic

- What to expect with an appointment at home (Home Visit)

- What is our guidance and where has it come from?

- Audiology Services via a PDF download direct from BSHAA

- What happens and what to do next?

Social Distancing, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Sanitizing

We are now in what we call a new normal in audiology and indeed any other industry. This means the way we provide our services to you has changed and will probably most likely stay that way for the foreseeable future. UK-hearing are working closely with our own professional bodies and following very strict government guidelines to ensure we practise in the safest and most professional manner. We are regularly checking the guidelines for any changes to the regulations. Our main focus is to provide you with the services you need whilst keeping both you and our audiologist's safe. Our audiological procedures follow very strict guidelines are are in line with the The NHS, Infection Prevention Society, government guidelines on Covid-19 and the World Health Organization (WHO).

We have put these precautions in place to ensure we minimise the risk and spread of infection. We will go into more depth with these aspects with our 'In clinic' and 'Home visit' guidance.

• Hand and Respiratory Hygiene techniques, thorough hand washing and sterilizing and strategies to minimise risk.

• Sanitizing both equipment and furniture such as chairs, doorhandles etc between each patient to maintain upmost precaution to avoid the spread of Covid 19.

• Regular and in-depth risk assessment and evaluation of each patient and environment.

• Screening questions will be undertaken for each patient to ensure we do not come into contact with anyone who has symptoms of Covid-19. The will include questions on friends and family and will be done prior to the appointment been made.

• Maintaining a 2m social distance where possible. Where not possible making sure correct PPE is been worn.

• Reduced appointment times to minimise risk of spreading.

• Reducing and minimising the equipment unnecessarily required. This is to enure there is less risk of carrying anything into the client home or clinic that may have been in contact with Covid-19 virus.

• Regular training and adapting to updated guidelines as and when they come out.

Who we can see and who we cant (risk levels)

During and after the Coronavirus outbreak we maintain that we cannot see anyone, either for a home visit or a clinic appointment, if they have symptoms of the coronavirus. This also includes any family members or friends who either live in the same household, or you have been in contact with. We can however book appointments with those people who are 'shielding' or in the high risk category, providing of course that it is safe to do so. This will mean that a clinic visit is not suitable and that you should remain isolated at home. We will have one of our audiologists visit you for a home visit.

Our audiologists work to the highest levels of care and professionalism and will provide you with a fully independent service. We are now able to perform wax removal duties also however currently our regulations state we cannot remove wax from any ear with a perforation or a 'wet ear' due to risk of infection. Our services are not limited to offering you the full range of hearing products available, and our dialogue with the manufacturers is constant to enable us to provide you with the right solution within the shortest timeframe. 

What is PPE and what should we be using?

PPE is known as Personal Protective Equipment and it is worn to protect the user for risk, injury or infection. UK-Hearing are asking all our auidologists to wear correct PPE for every patient they see. This includes: Gloves (Non Latex Nitrile), Face masks, Aprons (preferably with full sleeves but not recommended in the guidelines), Face Shields (For wax Removal) and foot covers (not in the guidelines but we will be recommending our audiologists use them). This will allow us to perform our services in the correct manner maintaining safety and precaution against the risk of infection.

We are also recommending that the client wears a facemask for their own protection and to increase out efforts to stop the spread. We would say this is most important when the 2m social distancing rule cannot be applied, such as wax removal and otoscopy. Our industry has clear guidelines on how to correctly put on and dispose of any PPE. All PPE will be worn only once and disposed of as per the clinical waste guidelines.

Remote care and how it can be beneficial

Our professional bodies are still recommending that where possible, especially for those who are shielding or high risk, that we try and provide care remotely. This is to completely avoid any risk of contact and still maintain service levels to the best of our capabilities. If your requirements don't fit the bill for a remote care solution then we will book you in for a face to face visit.  Please see below for a list of services that we can provide remotely for you:

• Remote adjustments of your hearing aid's (Depending on level of hearing aid and manufacturer)

• Replacement or repair of tubes receivers or hearing aids (Existing customers only)

• Delivery of pre programmed hearing instruments *

• Follow up assessments (Video call, Skype etc)

• Regular aftercare support

• Tinnitus Support

• Upgrading or replacing existing aids *

* Please note- In order to provide these services we require an audiogram under 2 years old (Preferably no older than 6 months). A telephone consultation will be undertaken to assess your needs and whether this is a suitable option for you. I f it is then the hearing aids will be preprogrammed and sent out ready to wear. (Existing Wearers)

For new users or those that do not have an audiogram either under two years old or at all, there maybe still something that we can do to help. You will need a smart device or smartphone such as an iPad iPhone or android. If you have these then hearing aids from Phonak, Signia, Widex or Oticon can be dispatched to you. Upon receipt of the hearing aids you can perform an insitu hearing test through them. We can them program the hearing aids remotely using a remote care facility app. We will assess whether you are suitable for this via a telephone appointment.

We would argue this is not the best way to have new hearing aids set up, but we are well aware that everyones safety is paramount and this is a temporary fix until one the audiologist can come out to see you for a face to face appointment. All testing and fitting will be done again on this face to face appointment to ensure correct fitting and setup.

Screening Questions and what to ask and look out for

The UK Government have released an advised set of screening questions that our audiologists will be asking you before any appointment is made. Please answer honestly. We are not aiming to be rude or intrude in your private life, however in the Interests of safety to both yourself and our audiologists we cannot see you unless you pass the screening questions. Should you answer YES to any of these questions, then we will be advising you to isolate and visit the NHS website for guidance on what to do next. We will not see you until your symptoms have diminished completely. You are then free to contact us again where we will have a conversation with you to assess whether it is safe to book an appointment.

1.  Do you or anyone else that resides with you in your household have coronavirus?

2.  Do you have any symptoms such as a cough sneezing or breathlessness?

3.  Do you have a high temperature of 37.8 degrees or above?

4.  Does anyone in the household have any new symptoms or Coronavirus such as a cough?

What to expect with an appointment in a clinic

Before Appointment

• You will be contacted via telephone by your audiologist to go through the screening questions. This is to ascertain whether you or anyone in your household has coronavirus symptoms.

• Providing you have passed the screening questions, the audiologist will then go through what to expect when you come in to clinic such as the changes to normal service and the measures they have put in. This is to make you feel more secure about the appointment and that it runs as safely and securely as possible 

• Our audiologist may ask you to make a list of any questions you may have to reduce appointment times.

• Each of our audiologists will request that you attend your appointment alone. If this isn't possible your accompanying member may only come if they adhere to social distancing rules. They may also be required to wear a facemask.

• You will be asked to remain very time constant and you must arrive on time to your appointment if possible to reduce any delays or overlapping.

• All chairs in the waiting room will adhere to social distance guidelines and remain 3M apart. Markers maybe shown to indicate this depending on the clinic.

• The waiting area will be cleaned regularly and sterilized to prevent infection.

• There will be time between each appointment to ensure cleaning of the appointment room is thorough.

• Time will be taken to ensure correct PPE is worn for each individual patients needs so please allow some time for this to be done.

• There will be on site hand sanitizers for each patients to sanitize their hands before their appointment. This ia a requirement and you will not be allowed to enter the clinic room until this has been done. 

During Appointment

• Your Screening Questions will be asked again to verify nothing has changed since your pre screen.

• Our audiologists will sanitize their hands before, during and after the appointment.

• Social distancing measures will apply and our audiologists will do this wherever possible to ensure safety.

• PPE will be worn at all times by the audiologist who may also ask you to wear a facemask.

• All close patient encounters will be done consecutively using full PPE, to minimise the risks of infection.

• Equipment will be limited where possible to avoid further risk of spread.

• Our audiologists will generally not be using soundproof booths to test in.

• In order to maintain the social distancing guidelines of 2m, some equipment maybe modified.

• The audiologist will fully clean and sterilize  the equipment after each appointment.

• Any extra testing required will be booked in at a later date to avoid overrunning appointments.

• All patient records and filing will be done as normal and stored in the correct manner. Extra information must be stored now on how the appointment was carried out, what equipment was used, what procedures were carried out and what hearing healthcare was advised. Each appointment needs to be undertaken following the guidelines set out by the UK government as per their Covid-19 response. 

*Please Note* All PPE worn will be disposed of correctly following the clinical waste guidelines. It will only be worn once and will be put on and removed correctly as per our professional bodies guidelines.

What to expect with an appointment at home (Home Visit)

Before Appointment

• You will be contacted via telephone by your audiologist to go through the screening questions. This is to ascertain whether you or anyone in your household has coronavirus symptoms.

• Providing you have passed the screening questions, the audiologist will then go through what to expect when he visits you in your home, such as the changes to normal service and the measures they have put in. This is to make you feel more secure about the appointment and that it runs as safely and securely as possible 

• Our audiologist may ask you to make a list of any questions you may have to reduce appointment times.

• A risk assessment will be carried out and a full PPE check will be undertaken to make sure the environment the audiologist is going into is a safe and secure one. The will reject the appointment if they feel it isn't up the requirements.

• All equipment will be fully sterilized before the audiologist sees the patient. 

• A confirmation from the patient will be required to confirm they understand and agree to a home visit and that all family members are aware the appointment will be undertaken. This is to ensure maximum safety and transparency.

• The audiologist will request that only you are present in the room. If this isn't possible then any accompanying member must remain vigilant to the social distancing rule of 2m and maybe asked to wear a facemask.

• Care Home visits will be very strictly monitored and it is down to the audiologist as to whether they feel safe and secure entering the premises. If they do the appointment must be confirmed and agreed by both patient and any staff at the care home in charge of that patient. Full PPE will be worn upon entry.

• To reduce time spent in the appoint all the necessary preparation will be done before hand.

During Appointment

• Screening Questions will again be verified to make sure nothing has changed since the prescreening.

• Regular hand sanitation will be undertaken before and during the appointment

• Social distancing measures will apply and where possible the audiologist will remain 2m apart. 

• PPE will be used throughout the appointment and the audiologist may ask the patient and any accompanying partner to wear a facemask.

• All close patient encounters will be done consecutively using full PPE, to minimise the risks of infection.

• Equipment will be limited where possible to avoid further risk of spread.

• All patient records and filing will be done as normal and stored in the correct manner. Extra information must be stored now on how the appointment was carried out, what equipment was used, what procedures were carried out and what hearing healthcare was advised. Each appointment needs to be undertaken following the guidelines set out by the UK government as per their Covid-19 response

*Please Note* All PPE worn will be disposed of correctly following the clinical waste guidelines. It will only be worn once and will be put on and removed correctly as per our professional bodies guidelines.