Information is collected centrally on the number of people waiting for a hearing aid assessment/re-assessment to be completed at the end of each quarter, according to specific time bands. Waiting time is counted from the date a referral is received by the Audiology Department until the aid is fitted. The latest information on the number of persons waiting for a hearing assessment/re-assessment is shown in the following table.
At 31 March 2006, 2,184 patients aged 18 and over were waiting for hearing aid assessments/re-assessments to be completed. No patients aged under 18 were waiting at this date.
Trust/hospital Less than 3 months 3-6 months 6-12 months 12 months or more All adults waiting Royal Hospital2 59 2 350 0 411 Belfast City Hospital 90 58 108 22 278 Mater Hospital 0 148 0 0 148 EHSSB 149 208 458 22 837 Causeway/United Hospitals 35 29 0 0 64 NHSSB 35 29 0 0 64 South Tyrone Hospital 85 87 191 63 426 Craigavon Area Hospital 114 45 193 27 379 Daisy Hill Hospital 87 51 0 0 138 SHSSB 286 183 384 90 943 Altnagelvin 38 0 0 0 38 Sperrin Lakeland 55 0 247 0 302 WHSSB 93 0 247 0 340 Northern Ireland 563 420 1,089 112 2,184 1The information in the table is based on where a client is treated and not necessarily where the client lives, i.e. a client from the Northern Board may be seen in the Royal Hospital and their details will be included in the Eastern Board. 2 For reasons of data protection and to protect the identity of the individual, information for Laganvalley, Royal Group of Hospitals, Ulster Community and Hospitals, and Downe Hospitals has been grouped. Source: Community Information Branch return AUDI