Audiology Case Study - NHS Shetland - 18 Weeks

Improved access – the service is available 5 days per week from 8am to5pm (increasing the number of staff in the team has increased theopening times).Improved cross cover – before the Technician joined the team, the servicewould close if the Audiologist was unavailable. The addition of secondmember of staff means there is increased cross over so services such ashearing aid repair can continue when the Audiologist is not available.What are the staff benefits? – e.g. qualitativedata results of staff surveys, staff stories, quotesfrom staff.The Audiologist has been able to focus on core business instead ofcovering technical duties and administrative duties. This has providedmore time for service review and evaluation of the DCAQ data – enablingthe Audiologist to refine and develop new systems and services. Anexample of this is that the Audiologist has re-instated pre-assessmentclinics to meet demand for diagnostics via the ENT pathway.The Audiologist has also increased capacity to provide diagnosticservices and address the longer waiting times (e.g. assessments andfittings) as hearing aid repair and other technical duties have been pickedup by the Technician.The Technician has been on various training courses and reports that shefeels more confident in the role and since April 2009, has been managingher own caseload for hearing aid repair.What are the organisational benefits?Clearly defined, efficient care pathways for patients requiring Audiologyassessment and hearing aid services. Process and outcome measuresare in place enabling management teams to review performance andbetter understand issues such as spikes in demand and how to respondproactively (e.g. continuity planning for holidays and how this will affectdemand management/access to the service).Audiology Case Study – NHS ShetlandPublished on: www.18weeks.scot.nhs.uk/how-to-achieve-and-maintain-18-weeks/task-and-finish-groups/audiology/(July 2010)4