Hi, I’m new, just diagnosed with mild/moderate hearing loss and went to Specsavers with nhs referral. The guy seemed to not want to offer nhs… I think angling for a private sale. Has ordered hearing aids for me and said he would do REM on NHS but not for private?
He also told me that the nhs aid for me will not have Bluetooth to connect to the phone.
Yesterday I got an email saying I have been referred by GP to hospital and will receive an appt in the future… (who knows when!) but my Specsavers appt is for 2 weeks to be fitted for the hearing aids.
What should I do? Where is likely to give me better? The audiologist at Specsavers said my borough also has different contracts so one area dispenses one aid, but his dispenses another. (Wouldn’t name either one to me.) this means the hospital will also likely offer a different one to Specsavers, possibly.
I’m so unsure what to do for the best options. Please could someone advise? Many thanks in advance!
They are probably wanting to steer you to a private sale as they will, I speculate, make considerably more money than dispensing an NHS aid. There should be a range of NHS aids, so you need to make is clear your needs (Bluetooth for me is vital to enable me to work online).
There should be other NHS providers in your area, so you may be able to shop around. There are two in my local town, one being Specsavers (but only for over 55’s, so no good for me).
Thank you for your responses…
When I went to the GP , I asked for a hearing test referral as the specsavers website had suggested I could be referred direct to them from my gp… as an NHS patient. The gp printed a form to give me to give to specsavers.
Then I went to specsavers… was told the hearing aids would need to be ordered and was given an appt in 2 weeks. Then I got an email regarding a hospital audiology referral so somehow I think my gp printed this form and also referred me to the hospital too.
I’m sure I won’t be able to get aids from both appts… but id like to try and find out which hearing aids each place offers, somehow, but even then, I’m not sure what is right for me! I have understood that REM and a good audiologist are what counts… not so much hearing aid, and I’d personally like Bluetooth. But otherwise, I’m in the dark in this minefield!
To add to this… when I asked for a copy of my hearing result/audiogram… the specsaver audiologist said I wasn’t even allowed to take a photo of the screen. It’s property of specsavers! So I have nothing to upload here, unfortunately.
This is the problem with companies that play both sides of the system: you never know whether you’re getting ‘advice’ or a pitch. Don’t get me wrong, we ‘sell’ hearing aids privately in the U.K., but it’s not confused with the NHS delivery and we don’t use the NHS for lead generation.
Unfortunately the previous government has intentionally defunded several aspects of healthcare and this is what’s left.
I’m afraid it all boils down as to where you live in the England. Some health boards have a agreement or contract with Specsavers to supply aids free of charge, others not. I live in Scotland where there is no such agreement with any health board.
I think they aren’t helpful, I suggest you try those hearing aids if they are free, even then, I suggest you look elsewhere.
Perhaps Costco at either Farnborough, Watford, Edinburgh, Glasgow, I think those do have hearing centre, as their hearing aids are around £1600 mark for a pair, plus the service is free…
https://www.costco.co.uk/hearing-aid
All of them play a crucial role, and If you are lucky you can hit the jackpot on all of them, but more often than not, one or two will be lacking, so one or two will be compensating.
Reading this forum, will certainly help you build up a good understanding.
In nutshell, if the Speacsavers’s hearing aids are free, then give them a try, you’ve got nothing to lose, if they aren’t free, then my preference is to got with the hospital if you can wait, or try Costco or other independent/boutique!
Thank you, I’ll try and go to Watford Costco soon and see what they say.
In the meantime, I might postpone the specsavers appt and wait to see if the hospital give me a date in the next month… as I have a tiny hope that they might be better than specsavers… although I feel like I’ll get tripped up for being greedy and expecting more ‘choice’ or experience in the hospital… when both specsavers and the hospital are both free.
I definitely won’t be going to specsavers if I decide to go private! His sales tactics were rather muddled and poor…. He told me there is no point trying NHS aids first because I can’t give them back (which I’m not even sure is true… they will be nhs property, right?) but if I went private I can give them back and get my money back if I’m not happy?!!! Gave me a chuckle at least.
That is correct, they are NHS property, you can take them back, but I will keep them if I was you, as a backup, in case the one you will pay for go faulty.
You might get lucky to get some hearing aids from the NHS within 6 months, depending on your location, but I suggest you try Costco to begin with, bearing in mind they too, have a long waiting list, maybe worth giving them a call.
If the specsavers ones are free, why not try them, just so you can have an idea what to expect hearing-wise, otherwise, if you don’t feel happy with specsavers, just wait for the hospital one.
Good luck
I’d recommend Costco as a private option. I’ve had very good treatment and aftercare from them. Their HAs are all top of the line models, although sold under sub brands of the leading manufacturers.
Your experience of Specsavers is similar to my own, although I’m in Scotland and I went for a ‘free’ hearing test with a view to considering private aids from them. I was massively upsold, with the most expensive HAs suggested as what I needed. No discussion on other options.
Boots Hearingcare were better, although it’s worth being aware they’re owned by a hearing aid company (Phonak’s parent) so funnily enough there’s a full range of their HAs on offer. I was steered to the top of the line HAs but given a better explanation as to why and there was discussion of lower spec options. At this point it was a straight toss between Boots and Costco. £3k vs £1200 and access to more loo roll in one purchase than we can ever dream of.
You can have an NHS pair too. I have a pair of Phonak Nathos Nova hearing aids, basically an older set of Phonak hearing aids but still good for today as they have Bluetooth and work well with current accessories. I was concerned the NHS clinic would chuck me out the door when I said I had private aids but noted I needed a Plan B set as I didn’t exactly have £1600 kicking around to buy replacements. Audiologist thought this was a sensible idea and had zero issues.
I always tried to hide the fact I had other aids when visiting my local NHS clinic. So that’s good news, they had no issues with having private aids. I won’t feel so guilty next time.
It might take away his eligibility to NHS hearing aids from the hospital, as he’ll already have NHS aids??
Peter
I see this as sharp practice, and I’d be out of the door immediately.
I needed MicroSuction for excessive wax when I was last fitted with NHS aids, and the hospital doesn’t do it. I went to a private clinic nearby, which was very professional and impressive in every way. I felt underdressed and not worthy 
. At no point in ths appointment, was there any suggestion of selling me their range of hearing aids. Totally professional.
I do appreciate, however, that in many parts of Scotland, it’s impractical to get to a Hospital Audiology department though.
Peter
I framed it as ‘I really need HAs to function and I couldn’t replace my private HAs immediately’.
That doesn’t seem unreasonable and the Nathos Novas (Bolero M70s essentially) are solid. I’ve got them set up with Roger licenses so they can so a fair job of replacing my KS10s.
I can dream that in 3 years Infinio Spheres will be on the NHS…
for sure, you should’ve gone to specsavers
We couldn’t get Paradise on the NHS, Sphere fuggitabtit
Not sure what the labour will do with NHS, if they will fund anything or cut cut cut.
My Specsavers for NHS used to hand out Siemens Aids but now they are handing out Danalogic Aids. My Step Mum goes here. I also see over 55s wearing Siemens and Danalogic Aids all over the place. No Bluetooth at Specsavers as well.
My hospital hand out Oticon Aids and Phonak Aids. I go to the hospital. Bluetooth in the Aids that the hospital hand out.
Does seem in my area that the hospital hand out better Aids.
Thank you Zebras. That’s made my mind up. I’ll take the risk and wait for the hospital appt then. And maybe go to Costco to do a trial before then.
If you’re in Wales then all of Wales hand out Danalogic Aids none Bluetooth even at the hospital.
Nottingham Ropewalk Clinic hand out Phonak Bluetooth.
Outside of the centre of Nottingham, they seem to hand out Siemens Aids none Bluetooth even at smaller hospitals. I have a friend in Nottingham.
Another friend is under Kent services for hearing aids and his hospital don’t hand out Bluetooth Aids so he’s just bought some Phonak Naida P70 UP on eBay to self program. He’s loving being able to stream now.
@Zebras are you Oxford/JR?
I’m due to see them at some point, I live off Bluetooth (MS Teams for work, audiobooks) and used to use earbuds/bone conduction headset, so I was wondering on the chances of a Bluetooth aid from the NHS.
I’ve currently got a pair of Lumity from Boots but at £3k I would really like to hand them back before the end of the 90 day trial.
Yes JR. You’ll likely get Oticon which is LE Bluetooth. They seem to keep the Phonak for severe to profound.
You could go the DIY route and buy off eBay to get Phonak Classic Bluetooth which will connect to laptop.
These Aids can have thin tubes and domes attached to them.
I have Nathos Novas and yes they’re Bluetooth enabled. I was told, in here, they’re essentially Marvel Bolero 70 hearing aids in a generic case. Not quite as slick as the Paradise aids in handling BT connections but definitely useable.