Chamber UK: Innovation for deaf and reduced hearing patients
Leaders discuss key issues and solutions
Mirusanthan Santhiyapillai from TympaHealth, met with Chamber UK chair, Professor Mike Bewick, former Deputy National Medical Director at NHS England to discuss the importance of innovation as a means to improve health outcomes for patients with deafness and hard-of-hearing. Joining them was Crystal Rolfe, Associate Director of Health at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), and Director of TAD Medical, Tom Anderson-Dixon.
We want to actually make that pathway a lot more efficient and a lot quicker by empowering non-specialist clinicians and specialist clinicians within the community – that’s your pharmacists, your opticians, your nurses, your GPs – to be able to directly look at the ear.
Mirusanthan, TympaHealth Discovery Audiological Scientist
Crystal Rolfe, Associate Director of Health at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), provided insight on the level of public awareness of deafness and the magnitude of the problem. Ms. Rolfe stated that “12 million people in the UK at currently living with varying extents of hearing loss.”
She went on to say that there is great scope for technology and innovation to address this problem. The RNID is working to identify key stages of the hearing loss treatment pathway where remote technology can be used to increase the efficiency of hearing assessments. Ms. Rolfe also stated: “I think the biggest thing that can make a difference, is if people get their hearing checked”.
Throughout the discussion the speakers highlighted key issues with the lack of deafness awareness and the problem with accessibility to care for treating deafness and hearing loss in the UK.
