Has the Minister considered working with the primary care providers who already provide eye health services as part of the NHS in Wales?
Wales continues to lead the way in audiology services and are well-regarded by UK audiology professionals. In part, this reflects the innovative work to deliver ‘first point of contact’ primary care models whereby, following complete roll out across Wales, an NHS Advanced Practice Audiologist, rather than a GP, will see patients at initial presentation with hearing problems. This requires more advanced clinical decision-making skills to safely assess patients, rather than simply dispensing a hearing aid.
Policy officials continue to meet with all stakeholders, including primary care providers who already provide eye health services as part of the NHS in Wales, to consider audiology services aligned to all Wales national Audiology Quality Standards.
NHS Wales pathways, with national clinical standards for the delivery of a hearing care services, are being implemented across all health boards, with advanced progress made by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Swansea Bay University Health Board. These two health boards are sharing good practices and working with the other health boards to support implementation across Wales.
Once the pathways are in place, patients will be referred to a primary care audiology service where hearing care will be provided free of charge, by Advanced Audiology Practitioners. No one should expect to have to pay for this service, although people may choose to seek private treatment if they so wish.
NHS Wales audiology service provides more integrated pathways and delivery consistent with NHS Wales policy of joined up collaborative care and aligns with all Welsh Governments strategic plans, including the Framework of Action for Wales: the Integrated framework of care and support for people who are D/deaf or living with hearing loss.
Following the pandemic, the Framework of Action was extended to run until 2023 and has been successful in delivering a number of developments and improvement across NHS Audiology service in Wales. The final outcomes paper will highlight the Framework of Action successes and ongoing challenges. I will review the outcomes paper and consider next steps for 2023-24 and beyond.