Tinnitus referral pathways within the National Health Service in England: a survey of their perceived effectiveness among audiology staff
Background: In the UK, audiology services deliver the majority of tinnitus patient care, but not all patients experience the same level of service. In 2009, the Department of Health released a Good Practice Guide to inform commissioners about key aspects of a quality tinnitus service in order to pro...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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BioMed Central
2011
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37498/ |
| _version_ | 1848795471921807360 |
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| author | Gander, Phillip E. Hoare, Derek J. Collins, Luke C. Smith, Sandra Hall, Deborah A. |
| author_facet | Gander, Phillip E. Hoare, Derek J. Collins, Luke C. Smith, Sandra Hall, Deborah A. |
| author_sort | Gander, Phillip E. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background: In the UK, audiology services deliver the majority of tinnitus patient care, but not all patients experience the same level of service. In 2009, the Department of Health released a Good Practice Guide to inform commissioners about key aspects of a quality tinnitus service in order to promote equity of tinnitus patient care in UK primary care, audiology, and in specialist multi-disciplinary centres. The purpose of the present research was to evaluate utilisation and opinions on pathways for the referral of tinnitus patients to and from English Audiology Departments.
Methods: We surveyed all audiology staff engaged in providing tinnitus services across England. A 36-item questionnaire was mailed to 351 clinicians in all 163 National Health Service (NHS) Trusts identified as having a tinnitus service. 138 clinicians responded. The results presented here describe experiences and opinions of the current patient pathways to and from the audiology tinnitus service.
Results: The most common referral pathway was from general practice to a hospital-based Ear, Nose & Throat department and from there to a hospital-based audiology department (64%). Respondents considered the NHS tinnitus referral process to be generally effective (67%), but expressed needs for improving GP referral and patients’ access to services. ‘Open access’ to the audiology clinic was rarely an option for patients (9%), nor was the opportunity to access specialist counselling provided by clinical psychology (35%). To decrease the number of inappropriate referrals, 40% of respondents called for greater awareness by referrers about the audiology tinnitus service.
Conclusions: Respondents in the present survey were generally satisfied with the tinnitus referral system. However, they highlighted some potential targets for service improvement including 1] faster and more appropriate referral from GPs, to be achieved through education on tinnitus referral criteria, 2] improved access to psychological services through audiologist training, and 3] ongoing support from tinnitus support groups, national charities, or open access to the tinnitus clinic for existing patients. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:32:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-37498 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:32:37Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | BioMed Central |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-374982020-05-04T16:30:54Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37498/ Tinnitus referral pathways within the National Health Service in England: a survey of their perceived effectiveness among audiology staff Gander, Phillip E. Hoare, Derek J. Collins, Luke C. Smith, Sandra Hall, Deborah A. Background: In the UK, audiology services deliver the majority of tinnitus patient care, but not all patients experience the same level of service. In 2009, the Department of Health released a Good Practice Guide to inform commissioners about key aspects of a quality tinnitus service in order to promote equity of tinnitus patient care in UK primary care, audiology, and in specialist multi-disciplinary centres. The purpose of the present research was to evaluate utilisation and opinions on pathways for the referral of tinnitus patients to and from English Audiology Departments. Methods: We surveyed all audiology staff engaged in providing tinnitus services across England. A 36-item questionnaire was mailed to 351 clinicians in all 163 National Health Service (NHS) Trusts identified as having a tinnitus service. 138 clinicians responded. The results presented here describe experiences and opinions of the current patient pathways to and from the audiology tinnitus service. Results: The most common referral pathway was from general practice to a hospital-based Ear, Nose & Throat department and from there to a hospital-based audiology department (64%). Respondents considered the NHS tinnitus referral process to be generally effective (67%), but expressed needs for improving GP referral and patients’ access to services. ‘Open access’ to the audiology clinic was rarely an option for patients (9%), nor was the opportunity to access specialist counselling provided by clinical psychology (35%). To decrease the number of inappropriate referrals, 40% of respondents called for greater awareness by referrers about the audiology tinnitus service. Conclusions: Respondents in the present survey were generally satisfied with the tinnitus referral system. However, they highlighted some potential targets for service improvement including 1] faster and more appropriate referral from GPs, to be achieved through education on tinnitus referral criteria, 2] improved access to psychological services through audiologist training, and 3] ongoing support from tinnitus support groups, national charities, or open access to the tinnitus clinic for existing patients. BioMed Central 2011-07-06 Article PeerReviewed Gander, Phillip E., Hoare, Derek J., Collins, Luke C., Smith, Sandra and Hall, Deborah A. (2011) Tinnitus referral pathways within the National Health Service in England: a survey of their perceived effectiveness among audiology staff. BMC Health Services Research, 11 (162). pp. 1-11. ISSN 1472-6963 http://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6963-11-162 doi:10.1186/1472-6963-11-162 doi:10.1186/1472-6963-11-162 |
| spellingShingle | Gander, Phillip E. Hoare, Derek J. Collins, Luke C. Smith, Sandra Hall, Deborah A. Tinnitus referral pathways within the National Health Service in England: a survey of their perceived effectiveness among audiology staff |
| title | Tinnitus referral pathways within the National
Health Service in England: a survey of their
perceived effectiveness among audiology staff |
| title_full | Tinnitus referral pathways within the National
Health Service in England: a survey of their
perceived effectiveness among audiology staff |
| title_fullStr | Tinnitus referral pathways within the National
Health Service in England: a survey of their
perceived effectiveness among audiology staff |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tinnitus referral pathways within the National
Health Service in England: a survey of their
perceived effectiveness among audiology staff |
| title_short | Tinnitus referral pathways within the National
Health Service in England: a survey of their
perceived effectiveness among audiology staff |
| title_sort | tinnitus referral pathways within the national
health service in england: a survey of their
perceived effectiveness among audiology staff |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37498/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37498/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37498/ |