Transition Clinic: years

Transcription

1 Patient information leaflet Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Transition Clinic: years Audiology Department

2 This leaflet is designed to help you with the final stages of your journey from the Paediatric Audiology Service to the Adult Audiology Service. Your last transition appointment Your last appointment will be when you have turned 18 years old. At this appointment we will complete your journey to the Adult Audiology Service by referring you to the Adult Audiology Service of your choice. You will no longer be able to book appointments with the paediatric/ transition clinic and instead will need to contact your new Adult Audiology Service. If you do not attend your last transition appointment, we will be unable to rebook this. You will automatically be transferred to your chosen Adult Audiology Service. What is the difference between the Paediatric Audiology Service and the Adult Audiology Service? There are a number of differences between this clinic and the Adult Audiology Clinics. Below is a table showing these. 2

3 Hearing Aid Repairs Different coloured earmoulds and hearing aids Hearing Test Reviews Appointment reports If you do not attend an appointment Type of hearing aid Paediatric Audiology You contact us and we arrange an appointment. Or you can drop the hearing aid into the Audiology Department for repair. We ask you what colour you would like. We will automatically send you an appointment at least annually for a hearing test. We write you a report for every review appointment you come to. We will rebook your appointment then after the second non attendance we will advise you to contact us. Some hearing aids provided are not available to adults. Adult Audiology You contact us and we arrange an appointment on a repair clinic. Or you come to a walk in repair clinic (depending on your chosen service). You can also drop off your hearing aid for repair. You will need to ask for a different colour and the availability will depend on the service you belong to. We will wait for you to contact us for a hearing test via the repair clinic. Then the appointment will be arranged. We advise you to have a hearing test every 3 years. We generally do not write reports to patients but can always give you a copy of your hearing test and write a report for you if it is needed for work or education purposes. Just ask us at your appointment. We will not necessarily rebook your appointment and we may discharge you from the service straight away. Depending on your chosen Audiology Service you may not be able to have your current hearing aids maintained. 3

4 I would prefer to see the same Audiologist each time, will that be the case? The audiologists you see on the Transition Clinic are trained to see children, young people and adults so depending on which Adult Audiology Service you move to, you may see them again. You may also be seen by other members of the Adult Audiology team who are trained to help you, just like the audiologists you see at the moment. Will I be able to take the same hearing aid? It s possible, however different Audiology Services provide different hearing aids and therefore you may need to change your current hearing aid to a new one if you want to transfer to a local Audiology Service. This is because Audiology Services can only maintain hearing aids on their contract due to the software needed to program the hearing aids. I m planning on going to college/university. Where can I go for help with listening in class? We would always advise that you contact the college/ university s student services or the admissions tutor for the course you are planning on taking for help with this. They can help you get the support you need especially for the type of course you are taking. We also recommend that you research this before applying for any course so you know what type of support to expect. For university, you are entitled to apply for Disabled Students Allowances and this can be done through Student Finances England. This can be done at the same time as applying for courses through UCAS. Once you have been accepted you can start contacting your chosen universities for information on additional support. If you are not accepted still contact the university as they may still be able to help. The college and university will need you to be able to explain what type of support you will need and any difficulties you may face in order to help them give you the best support they can. That is why we work so hard to make sure you understand your hearing loss and are able to explain this to others. 4

5 The buzz website by the NDCS has lots of useful information about this and other topics: I ve finished my education. Where can I get help with hearing at work? You can get support at work too. We advise that you contact your local Jobcentre Plus, who can help you register with the Access to Work scheme. This scheme was designed to help those with additional needs get support at work. For more information check out or I want to live independently. How can I get help with hearing important sounds around the house? You can get devices to help you, alongside your hearing aids, around the house too. These are called assistive listening devices and there are a number of organisations in the local area that can help you with finding the right one for you. Sometimes you will need to pay for these but it all depends on the organisation you contact and their policy. Some to contact include: Deaf Plus: First Point Surrey area only: Communication Rehabilitation Officers Hampshire area only: htm You can also contact your local audiology department who are happy to help you find organisations in your local area. 5

6 How do I get an interpreter/ translator for my hospital and GP appointments? Whether you require a translator because English is not your first language or because you require a BSL interpreter, just let the department or your GP surgery know as soon as possible and they will be able to arrange this for you. I need to change my Adult Audiology Service as I have now moved to a different area, how do I do this? You will need to contact your GP in the area you now live in and they will be able to refer you to your local Adult Audiology Service. The new Audiology Service will be able to contact your old Adult Audiology Service for your past information. I am unhappy with my Adult Audiology Service and wish to make a complaint. How do I do this? We re sorry to hear you are unhappy. We advise that you contact your Adult Audiology Service s management team to discuss your concerns. If you feel you cannot do this for whatever reason, we recommend you contact the hospital s Patient Liaison Service (PALs). 6

7 Notes 7

8 Contact details Transition Clinic Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions after reading this leaflet. The Transition Clinic is part of the Paediatric Audiology Service. The contact telephone number is ext Please leave an answerphone message of prompted. Alternatively please We try to respond to all messages within two working days. Royal Surrey County Hospital (RSCH) NHS Foundation Trust fully subscribes to the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) Being Open best practice framework, November PALS and Advocacy contact details Contact details of independent advocacy services can be provided by our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) who are located in far left corner as you enter the main reception area. PALS are also your first point of contact for health related issues, questions or concerns surrounding RSCH patient services. Telephone: Opening hours: 9.00am 4.00pm, Monday to Friday If you would like information documents in large print, on tape or in another language or form please contact PALS. Review date: March 2018 Author: Leah Wannell PIN Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 2015