Hearing difficulties
If you are worried about your hearing, you can talk to your GP or contact Action on Hearing Loss (the new name for the RNID).
Test your hearing at the Action on Hearing Loss website or by calling 0845 600 5555. Action on hearing loss also has lots of other information and advice.
Talk to your GP if your hearing is getting worse or you have another ear problem. It may be something easy that your GP can fix. You should also talk to your GP if you have tinnitus (ringing in your ear) or other hearing problems.
Your GP may refer you (suggest you to) to the audiology clinic for a hearing test. The test will find out what the problem is.
Hearing aids and other equipment
You can buy hearing aids privately. Check that the person or company selling the hearing aids is registered with the Health Professions Council. If they are not, do not buy a hearing aid from them.
If you are not sure, contact us for advice before buying or read the action on hearing loss factsheet.
There is lots of other equipment you can buy. For example:
- Extra loud, flashing or vibrating alarm clocks
- Extra loud telephones, TVs, radios and door bells
- Flashing smoke detectors
- Personal amplifiers so that you can hear the TV without turning the volume up too high
You can buy some of this equipment from high street shops, from catalogues and from mobility shops. You can also get advice and equipment from Disabled Living.
Registering as deaf or hard of hearing
The audiology department may suggest you contact our sensory services team. After an assessment, we can register you as:
- Hard of hearing
- Deaf with speech
- Deaf without speech
You may get some free or reduced cost services (such as travel passes).
What we can do
As well as assessing your situation, we can help you with daily living equipment, information, advice and support so that your hearing loss does not stop you from doing the things you want to.
This page was last updated on 8 December 2011
