{"id":24645,"date":"2025-07-15T08:35:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T07:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/?page_id=24645"},"modified":"2025-07-21T13:35:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T12:35:55","slug":"hearing-implants-audiology","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/audiology\/hearing-implants-audiology\/","title":{"rendered":"Hearing Implants (Audiology)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A hearing implant can be an excellent alternative when conventional hearing aids are unsuitable:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Percutaneous bone conduction hearing aid e.g. BAHA <\/strong><strong>&#8211; a<\/strong> surgically implanted vibrating device which transmits sound through the bone to the inner ear<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Transcutaneous bone conduction hearing aid e.g. Bonebridge, Osia, Sentio <\/strong>&#8211; a surgically implanted vibrating device hidden under the skin with an external audio processor held in place by a magnet<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Middle Ear implant e.g. Vibrant Sound bridge &#8211; a<\/strong> surgically implanted vibrating device acting directly on the ossicular chain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Cochlear Implants<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a separate national programme for cochlear implants run at Crosshouse Hospital in Ayrshire: please see&nbsp;the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciponline.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Scottish Implant Programme<\/a> for details. GPs cannot refer directly to that but need to refer to Audiology in NHS Lothian for initial assessment<strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>C.M. &amp; A.B. 13-12-24<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Referral Guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who to refer:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Please refer to Audiology:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patients&nbsp;aged over 16 with mild to severe hearing loss (&lt;65dB HL) struggling with conventional hearing aids as a result of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recurrent infections<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ear canal stenosis \/ atresia<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unhappiness with the sound quality<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients&nbsp;aged over 16 with single sided deafness (&gt;80dB HL).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following audiological assessment patients considered candidates for a hearing implant will be seen in the multidisciplinary Hearing implant clinic by Mr Bennett, ENT Consultant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who not to refer:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The implant service is for patients previously seen by ENT or audiology, and only specialists can refer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Please refer new ear disease (eg e.g. deafness\/perforation\/discharge\/abnormal appearance of ear drum) to Audiology or ENT first in line with RefHelp guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How to refer:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Please refer by SCI Gateway to Audiology at Lauriston.<br>Please note that this service is not available at St John\u2019s or East Lothian Community Hospital.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Primary Care Management<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Resources and Links<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A hearing implant can be an excellent alternative when conventional hearing aids are unsuitable: Cochlear Implants There is a separate national programme for cochlear implants run at Crosshouse Hospital in Ayrshire: please see&nbsp;the Scottish Implant Programme for details. GPs cannot refer directly to that but need to refer to Audiology in NHS Lothian for initial<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":3716,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1272],"class_list":["post-24645","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-https-apps-nhslothian-scot-refhelp-hearing-implants-audiology"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"heatherlevy","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/heatherlevy\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":" <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/category\/audiology\/https-apps-nhslothian-scot-refhelp-hearing-implants-audiology\/\" rel=\"tag\">Hearing Implants (Audiology)<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"A hearing implant can be an excellent alternative when conventional hearing aids are unsuitable: Cochlear Implants There is a separate national programme for cochlear implants run at Crosshouse Hospital in Ayrshire: please see&nbsp;the Scottish Implant Programme for details. GPs cannot refer directly to that but need to refer to Audiology in NHS Lothian for initial","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24645"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24650,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24645\/revisions\/24650"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}