Hearing aid preference

[GEM]

I would like to know people's views on the vast choice of hearing aids that are available for NHS use.

Are departments limiting fitting choice to just 1-2 models of hearing aid or are departments fitting all hearing aids available?

Does any one have any views on the different receiver in the ear hearing aids available and are they a practical option for a department as a whole?

[daisy]

Our department seems to be sticking to 2 models-currently we are using the Impact range from Siemens for adult fittings and Phonak for children although some of the adults with profound losses are also on the Naida aids. We had almost all the different companies come round during staff meetings to demonstrate their aids but it was decided to stick to only a few-i think for ease of learning the software and it makes it easier for stock.

We have still got a few different models floating around that are still used for repairs or for the patients that really like those models but on the whole we are only using the two manufacturers.

Unsure about the RIC aids however...there was talk of trying them and setting a criteria for patients that would benefit but nothing seems to have come from this.

[GEM]

thanks for your reply Daisy

[JasonS]

Our department has lots of different aids in stock, the only ones we dont fit are Starkey.

On the adult side, we fit about 60% Phonak - Nathos Micros, M's, SP's and UP's with around 40% Oticon - Zest, Zest Power and Zest SP Com but we also have in stock a full range of danalogic (ifits and 6 series) and siemens (impacts) although we only these very rarely so order these in as needed.

On the paed side, they stick to 100% Phonak

We've also been trialing the new Starkey digital body worn but theres lots of problems with the software as its not NOAH compatable

Generally, it works great because it means we have a large range to choose from and can chose the aid to fit the loss

[shaikha]

My former department (Adult Audiology) worked with Danalogics- we had the odd siemens and oticon aids coming through but we tried to change everyone over to Danalogic aids. We did do a small trial of Oticon Zests but i believe financially the D60s were much better - acoustically they were thought to be more or less the same.