Provision of Analogue Hearing Aids at Medway Maritime Hospital

The request was successful.

Dear Medway Primary Care Trust (PCT),

Please could you answer the following questions:

Whose decision was it to discontinue provision of analogue hearing aids at Medway Maritime hospital?

Were users of NHS Medway audiology services consulted at that time?

Is there a policy in place which aims to replace all (or a percentage of) analogue hearing aids with digital ones, by a specified time, for example?

Will analogue users be forced to change to digital aids even if they have evidence which supports a clinical requirement for an analogue aid?

Will analogue users be forced to change to digital aids if they have a preference for analogue aids?

Do you share the core aims of the NHS, that every patient matters and all should be offered the choice of the most appropriate treatment?

Please provide any supporting policy documents or consultation responses that are relevant to these questions, and minutes of any meetings at which the phasing out of analogue hearing aids was discussed.

Yours faithfully,

Lisa Dillon

Dear Madam,

Thank you for your interest in NHS Medway and the provision of analogue
hearing aids. Your request for information was received on 13 September
2010. You should receive a complete response as soon as possible and in
any case by 11 October 2010 unless a lawful extension to the time period
is applied. You will be informed of any extension. Attached you will find
a notice of your rights under the freedom of information act - including
the right to complain or seek a review of the manner in which your request
is handled.

Regards,

md

Michael Doherty

Information Governance Facilitator

NHS Medway

50 Pembroke Court

Chatham Maritime

Chatham

ME4 4EL

01634 335055

If you wish to make a request for information by way of the right provided
by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 please address it to
[NHS Medway request email]

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1 Attachment

Dear Madam,

I have made internal enquiries and have been unable to trace information
held by NHS Medway which relates to your questions concerning the
provision of analogue hearing aids at Medway Maritime Hospital. I can
though provide information relating to the other question posed in the
following terms,

"Do you share the core aims of the NHS, that every patient matters and all
should be offered the choice of the most appropriate treatment?"

NHS Medway is committed to the enduring principles of the NHS and
information concerning our commitment is published on the NHS Medway
website at,

[1]http://www.medwaypct.nhs.uk/About_NHS_Me....
 

The NHS Constitution is binding on NHS bodies and I trust this reassures
you NHS Medway remains faithful to the original and developing core
principles of the NHS. As this information is readily available on the
internet NHS Medway is exempted from providing a copy by Section 21
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Should you have difficulty accessing the
information please feel free to contact me for assistance.

You may wish to divert your questions relating to the provision of
analogue hearing aids at Medway Maritime Hospital to the Medway NHS
Foundation Trust. I note the trust's website asks that freedom of
information requests are made, preferably in writing to,

Loϊs Howell
Director of Governance & Risk
Medway NHS Foundation Trust
Medway Maritime Hospital
Windmill Road
Gillingham
Kent
ME7 5NY

Or by email to [2][email address].

If you prefer I can forward your request on your behalf. Please feel free
to call me if you need any assistance. A copy of NHS Medway's notice of
requestor's rights - including the right to complain about or seek a
review of the handling of your request - is attached.

Regards,

md

Michael Doherty

Information Governance Facilitator

NHS Medway

50 Pembroke Court

Chatham Maritime

Chatham

ME4 4EL

01634 335055

If you wish to make a request for information by way of the right provided
by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 please address it to
[NHS Medway request email]

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Dear Mr Doherty,

Many thanks for your prompt reply and your kind offer to forward my request to the Medway NHS Foundation Trust, which I gratefully accept. I would like to request that Ms Howell be made aware that any correspondence entered into will be made available to the public on whatdotheyknow.com.

I acknowledge that some of the information I requested is already publicly available. I wished only for you to clarify your commitment to observing the rights of all patients and thank you for doing so.

Yours sincerely,

Lisa Dillon

Dear Madam,

I will forward the enquiry to the relevant person at Medway NHS Foundation Trust.

Regards,

md
Michael Doherty
Information Governance Facilitator
NHS Medway
50 Pembroke Court
Chatham Maritime
Chatham
ME4 4EL

01634 335055

If you wish to make a request for information by way of the right provided by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 please address it to [NHS Medway request email]

show quoted sections

Allen Lisa \(RPA\) Medway Trust,

Dear Ms Dillon

Freedom of Information Act Request: reference A0759

Thank you for your email which has been forwarded to the Trust by NHS
Medway, requesting information relating to the provision of hearing
aids.  Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and will be responded to within 20 working days.

Yours sincerely

Loïs Howell

Director of Governance & Risk

Lisa Allen (on behalf of the Director of Governance & Risk)

Senior Directorate Administrator

Medway NHS Foundation Trust

Tel: 01634 830000 ext: 5433

Please note that I work Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays only. Thank you.

Kidner Kayleigh \(RPA\) Medway Trust,

Dear Ms Dillon

Freedom of Information Request: reference A0759

Thank you for your recent request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

1. The Trust was informed by the Department of Health, along with other
Trusts across the country, that patients would have access to improved
digital hearing aid technology, which was previously only available
from private dispensers. These new aids were made available to the NHS
on contract with affordable prices due to the ability to buy in bulk.
The Trust was given additional funding by the Modernisation of Hearing
Aid Services so that we could purchase the technology required to
select, program and fit the new aids and also train the Audiologists
to do so. The program was introduced in waves – the Trust was in
wave 3 and began fitting digital in 2004.

2. Service users at the time were informed of the availability of digital
technology and were invited to apply to be transferred over. They were
put on to digital conversion waiting lists and consequently fitted.
All new patients were automatically issued with digital aids.

3. There is no policy which states a deadline for fitting all patients
with digital technology. The Trust found that the demand for digital
aids was immediate, far beyond our expectations, and consequently we
had enormous waiting lists for patients wishing to transfer over. We
had to be given additional funding to keep up with demand and
eventually the waiting lists were cleared. There are still some
patients coming through the system using analogue technology and they
are offered upgrades to digital if they wish. We do make it clear to
those patients that analogue aids are becoming obsolete so repair or
replacement can be extremely difficult or impossible in some
circumstances.

4. The Trust will take into consideration any patients who wish to remain
on analogue aids. Overall, the service has had a small number of
patients who have not been able to manage the conversion to digital.
The Trust will never force a patient to go over to digital, but as
mentioned above, some analogues have not been available to us through
NHS Supplies for some time now. The majority of patients wish to use
the most up to date technology so we have seen a steady decline in
analogue production and availability since 2004. The decision to phase
out analogues was not made by us – rather the hearing aid
manufacturers in response to lack of demand.  

5. The Trust does share the core aims of the NHS, that every patient
matters and all should be offered the choice of the most appropriate
treatment. As stated before it has been a case of availability that
has been a problem for the Trust, not a wish to oppose patient choice.
If a manufacturer was found for the aids in question the Trust would
certainly look into purchasing off contract.

6. The Trust does not hold any documents relating to the phasing out of
analogue hearing aids.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted within two months of the date of receipt of this email and
should be addressed to:

Phillip Elliott

Head of Legal Services

Residence 8

Medway NHS Foundation Trust

Medway Maritime Hospital

Windmill Road

Gillingham

Kent

ME7 5NY

Please remember to quote the reference number in any future
communications.

Yours sincerely

Lois Howell

Director of Governance & Risk

Kayleigh Kidner

Freedom of Information Administrator &

PA to Loϊs Howell, Director of Governance & Risk and Sue Bell, Company
Secretary

Medway NHS Foundation Trust

01634 830000 x5399/3824

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From: Allen Lisa (RPA) Medway Trust
Sent: 16 September 2010 13:39
To: '[FOI #46763 email]'
Subject: Freedom of Information Act Request: reference A0759

Dear Ms Dillon

Freedom of Information Act Request: reference A0759

Thank you for your email which has been forwarded to the Trust by NHS
Medway, requesting information relating to the provision of hearing aids.
Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and will be responded to within 20 working days.

Yours sincerely

Loïs Howell

Director of Governance & Risk

Lisa Allen (on behalf of the Director of Governance & Risk)

Senior Directorate Administrator

Medway NHS Foundation Trust

Tel: 01634 830000 ext: 5433

Please note that I work Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays only. Thank you.

Lisa Dillon left an annotation ()

Thanks to Medway (PCT) for their timely and articulate response.

This information will be shared with the "Keep Analogue Hearing Aids Available on the NHS" group on Facebook, and will hopefully aid their campaign.