Access to work application process time

[monicaspurpledoor]

Has anyone had any recent experience in applying for access to work assessement?
I have just completed my application and it says it could be up to 37 weeks.
A little background:
I work as a Nurse practitioner and have hearing loss (wears hearing aids) and I’m advised to have an adapted Bluetooth stethoscope and other aids to allow me to hear/communicate efficiently.

@Catsandbooksaremybagand @NattyKnitter116
it was occupational health who advised for me to apply to access to work for equipment.
@LadyLapsang
I have previously struggled with a normal stethoscope and as my hearing aids aren’t compatible with stethomate ear buds I have to take them out multiple times of day, which increases risk of breaking them, loosing them and ear irritation inside and out. I could hear heart and lung sounds.

My hearing has deteriorated further and now I need a stethoscope for my hearing loss as well as being compatible with my hearing aids.
This has all just come about and previous job was mainly injuries with some illness requiring a stethoscope. This NP job is more illness (my strength) and in community so need to use it a lot more for my respiratory patients and taking blood pressures.

im going to speak with my manager this week and inform her of what’s happening to see if we can speak again with occ health.
occ health we’re pretty clueless when I asked about what equipment is available and so was my audiologist.

The ATW approved disability assessors are quite good on the equipment front but also you could contact one the approved suppliers to get a feel of what might be useful. You can get a list on google by searching ATW approved assessors for hearing issues and it will list Maximus/Reed and the like and should then list some suppliers underneath.

Access to work specify exactly what should be purchased. They have the knowledge which the employer does not have. Great scheme.

https://www.medisave.co.uk/products/3m-littmann-core-digital-stethoscope-black

These are £242 ex.VAT. You'd get VAT exemption because of your hearing loss. Surely that would be better than having you perform at a sub-standard level for 9 months? I'm sure the NHS can afford £240.

I’ve asked to speak to occ health again so have a telephone appointment on Wednesday with them to see what’s what.

My boss was asking the other day ‘what did you do in your old job?’ I then had to explain that my old job was more of a mixture of injuries and illness and sometimes I could go a few shifts without having to use a stethoscope as I was on shift at a minor injuries unit…and that my hearing has deteriorated further recently and these Bluetooth hearing aids are new to me.

I hate feeling like a nuisance at work, especially in my new job. I’m so used to just cracking on and doing things.
Now I can’t even apply for access to work correctly (which has been highlighted on here by a few other posters)!
sorry I’m just having a whinge 🤣

I hope you get further with OH on Wednesday. Hopefully they will ok the funding for this stethescope that you need. Just as an aside, do you get Personal Independence Payment? If not, might be worth applying. It will also take ages but it sounds like, if things are deteriorating, you might need other equipment at home to help you and this is exactly the sort of thing PIP is good for. .

Meant to add, please don’t beat yourself up. They need you far more than you need them. NHS can’t lose clinical staff at the moment (admin however are fair game) so hopefully someone high enough up the chain will realise it’s cheaper to fund this equipment than potentially lose a qualified clinician.

@NattyKnitter116thank you for your post.
I will update after my appointment tomorrow.
No I don’t have pip. However at home I have more adaptations because my hearing aids are now Bluetooth I can connect them to the TV or if I want a hearing aid break I mostly use subtitles. My telephone calls can come through my hearing aid and I also have an app on my phone which can help translate calls into words.
I have a ring doorbell that comes through on my watch. Noise detector in our daughter’s room that notifies my watch so when I’m in bed I know if she shouts.
I didn’t realise how many adaptions your automatically do over the years until your made to think about it.
I didn’t realise my hearing was so bad until I saw the audiogram. Thank you genetics!

Applied in mid January, if all goes to plan I should hear something by September. It's the issue with needs changing whilst remaining employed - they're told to prioritise the not working applicants first.

Update:
spoken to occ health nurse last week. Who also wears hearing aids. Said that she hasn’t got a clue and advised access to work.
Then went on to say that they have a duty of care to me etc etc etc she then went on to talk about charities (who also recommend access to work) and this lasted about 45mins by telephone. they gave examples of what charities to suggest (which I already have day to day such as voice to text translate on my phone, hearing aids attached to phone via Bluetooth, door bell attached to my watch and iPhone for notifications in the house and I have a noise sensor in my daughters room for when she shouts through the night or unwell it comes through on my watch as a vibration). She’s asked about a health passport which for me isn’t suitable as I can ask people to not talk with their hands over their mouth or to look at me when they are speaking etc.

I asked as hearing loss is a common impairment and I couldn’t be the only healthcare worker with hearing loss and they as a trust recommend as to what stethoscopes the trust has purchased etc and they kept repeating access to work.

around half an hour later I received another phone call after she spoken with her boss as the trust have to provide equipment up to a certain amount £ and advised to speak with procurement who will have a list of equipment…..
as if my magic a littman core digital stethoscope is on the list. So at the moment I am waiting for that to be approved so I can at least do most of my job without having to removed my hearing aids ++++++ per day!

Brilliant news!

That’s great news.

I received my stethoscope yesterday. Went to collect it from
the office on my way to see a patient with the comment from admin (I have had a few of these since I started) ‘oh it was really expensive’
I still need to work out how to use it and tweak it and requested an audiology appointment to help me.
Hopefully I can use this effectively until my access to work assessment x

That’s great - good luck with it.