My name is Sharon Stern; I am the Audiology Manager for Mid Essex NHS Audiology Services. I’d like to tell you about our service.  We operate services at Broomfield Hospital, Braintree Community Hospital and St Peters Hospital in Maldon.  We have supported Hearing Help Essex for many years and I am very proud of the collaborative work that we do.

We are a team of 19 comprising of Adult and Paediatric audiologists, Assistant Audiology technicians, a hearing therapist and a friendly administration team.

Our shared passion at Mid Essex is to deliver the best quality hearing rehabilitation using the latest in digital hearing technology.  You would be pleasantly surprised with what we can offer you in the NHS; hearing aids are fantastic little devices.  They are not the big beige whistling thing that people often remember their grandparents having.  We are a progressive service that keeps up to date with all the technological advances that are made  available to us.

Did you know that in the UK, more than 40% of people over 50 years old have hearing loss, rising to more than 70% of people over the age of 70 (RNID).  Have you noticed you are increasing the volume of the television?  Are you asking for repetition or have your friends and family noticed you do not hear them all of the time?  Early identification of hearing loss is beneficial; it is far easier to adapt to the use of hearing aid technology early into your hearing loss.  Hearing aids actually help to keep your brain fit!

So, if you are finding you are struggling then please visit your GP and ask for a referral to the Audiology department for a free hearing test.   After we have assessed your hearing we will talk you through your results and together decide whether a hearing aid would be an appropriate way to help you.

Not many people are aware but hearing aids are free on the NHS so no hidden agenda to sell you anything. Once you are registered with the service you can access us whenever you need us.

You can find out more about services from NHS Audiology here