Advice on Cost of Hearing AIDS

[Icequeen01]

Following a recent appointment at the memory clinic one of the things they advised was to get DM's hearing checked. We had thought she possibly struggled to hear conversations and this could be one of the reasons she can't always follow a conversation.

Today we took her for a very thorough hearing test and we were not surprised to find out she has moderate hearing loss and would benefit from a hearing aid. The only thing is the cost - £5,300 for their Diamonds package and going down to £4000 for the premium package. Is this off the wall expensive or is this how much a good hearing aid costs these days? This is obviously not through the NHS.

Any advice please. I have zero experience of hearing aids!

Wow I wasn't expecting so many replies. Thank you all so much.

Some of you have spoken about the NHS. I did wonder about this but was worried about wait times and the standard of hearing aids. But it seems this can vary from area to area. I think this might be worth investigating.

@Namemchangeforthispostonly101 Thanks so much for your input. I must admit I was impressed with the level of aftercare offered via the private company. We certainly won't be paying £5,800 for the diamond package but there is a premium package for £4,600. It still seems such a lot of money.

I do take on board your comments @DahliaMacNamara. At the moment I think she would be ok and not lose them but of course we don't know what is round the corner. She would not agree to have a brain scan stating she would rather not know and I totally get that. She lives on her own but we live next door so she gets lots of support from us. I might be clutching at straws but just want to do anything that might help her.

A friend has just had an NHS hearing aid having had a private one for many years. Only waited about 4 months from GP referral to getting the aid fitted. The NHS aid has bluetooth and is vastly advanced to what was on offer when the private aid was fitted.

Just out of interest, do any of you who have NHS aids live in the East Kent NHS area?

Absolutely try NHS first.
I have "moderate " hearing loss and after a quote of several £k I decided to try nhs ones first with a view to spending the money later.
I got a GP referral after showing them the results of the private test (didn't even need to see GP). Three months later I had nhs aids. All parts and maintenance are included and I have never felt the need to upgrade in 4 years.

Many people spend a fortune on aids they never use

My Mum and my husband have NHS ones, they say they are good.

https://www.newtonplacesurgery.nhs.uk/audiology
Is this any use to you?
Or this? https://www.specsavers.co.uk/hearing/hearing-aids/nhs-hearing-aids?ds_rl=1293576&gad_source=1&gclsrc=ds

My mother has recently been diagnosed with severe hearing loss in both ears - we knew for a while but could never get her to go. Cost privately £3000 or go on the NHS waiting list - currently 73 weeks. She’ll likely be dead by then.

Mum went to Boots and was given a hard sell talk from them. It was so pushy and expensive it frightened her off.
She made an appointment with NHS and has very discreet ones for free. All the batteries are free too. Repairs are quick and she’s delighted. She did have to wait a while for the appointment but it was worth it.

I have to say I have hearing aids on NHS and my experience is positive with them really.

Don't know if it differs depending on where you are?

This was absolutely not my mum’s NHS experience .
She has 2 hearing aids, blue tooth connectivity via an app, repairs have been speedy and when she lost one it was replaced FOC. The audiology dept has an open door policy for problems so when one had a blocked tube she dropped it off and it was ready later that day. She’s delighted with the service.

Thank you again for all your helpful comments. I did a bit of googling last night and supposedly there is only a four week wait for audiology in our area. Not sure if I believe that or not. I'm going to email her GP over the weekend (luckily we have a fabulous GP surgery) and ask them to refer her as this was a recommendation from the memory clinic. At the end of the day, as lots of you have pointed out, I can always go down this route first. If the wait is too long or we don't feel happy with the hearing aids they suggest we can go back down the private route.

so when one had a blocked tube she dropped it off and it was ready later that day. Did she not get given a wire for clearing blocked tubes? It’s a 2min job.

My dad has nhs hearing aids and I agree with this. Seem to work well.
He was quoted £5k for private hearing aids, but didn't want to pay that much. MIL pays around £3k for hers and they don't work in certain situations- eg if she's in the back seat of the car she can't hear the person speaking in the front.

The wire isn't always enough to work on a blocked tube. It can easily get too blocked for the wire to work on it

Agree with others - try NHS first. I had a free pair when I first needed them. They were fine and did me well for 3 or 4 years.

I moved to another area and the audiology support wasn’t as good. I was also in a financially better position by then so went private and paid about 4K which was mid-range, so your figures sound about right. I love them and the audiologist has been super helpful if I’ve needed anything. They are better than my NHS ones, but those would have been fine if I’d have had better local support TBH.

I don’t think your DM will necessarily need the ‘latest and greatest’ tech. If your local NHS service is good, I’d stick with that. From what I understand, they’re only 2-3yrs behind so it’s a bit like having an iPhone a few generations older than the latest. It’s still good tech.

DM has severe hearing loss and has had NHS aids for years, they re the big old fashioned behind ear types with moulds. They do break frequently (could be down to her use of them) although the repair service is excellent.

She also has a pair from Specsavers which cost £2000. She’s supposed to have free batteries for four years but at the moment they are failing to send her the batteries (she’s housebound) despite me phoning them regularly so I’m less than impressed.

If you do go down the private route, check with your household insurance that they are covered - DM lost one within a year of having them and the insurance company paid up.

Oh, that’s a good point on insurance if you go private.

Depending on their value they may or may not be covered. I had to have mine added for a tiny additional cost as they weren’t covered by default.

It’s worth checking if you can self refer.

It certainly depends by area, because this was exactly my experience very recently at my NHS trust.

Only one aid given, despite my hearing loss being the same in both ears.

No choice of aid, the one I was given was bulky, in a. Dry dark colour that made it very obvious when I wore it, and no Bluetooth capability.

My son, however, has fantastic aids (he goes to a different hospital for his).

I went to Boots and for their top range aids (actually the same as my son's NHS aids!) and they were £3k for the pair.

OP, I would try the NHS first and then explore private if you are in an area that has as rubbish a budget as mine. But if going private, do shop around!

Oh, that’s never happened to me! I wonder if that’s why they tell you to use the wire every time you change a battery (not that I do)?

Sounds like Specsavers varies from area to area too! I phone, and they send me about a year’s supply within a couple of days.

@MereDintofPandiculation I had a very rude call from a Specsavers member of staff this morning saying that they do not post out batteries although they will do so as a one off this time. I asked how else 86 year old housebound DM with Alzheimer’s is supposed to get the batteries and was more or less told ‘tough’. I am less than impressed!

I'm not surprised you're not impressed! The first time I had to get new batteries, I went into store to get them, next time I went in they told me they were now all being sent out from store in a town about 20 miles away and I had to phone them. Straight through to a person, no menus, and batteries arrived (about a year's supply) in a few days,

I wonder if carriers are getting a bit more fussy about carrying batteries?

Have you solved how the housebound 86 year old is getting batteries?

I would ring back and make sure you speak to someone else.
Maybe you got hold of a mardy person/someone who didn't know what they were doing.
Failing that I'd actually make a complaint.
I have NHS ones and batteries are posted if you want them posted
So if you're paying £2000 and not getting that I'd be making a complaint