Audiology and hearing tests
What we do
Audiology is the study of hearing, hearing disorders and assisting people who have hearing loss.
How to access Audiology Services
You will need to have been referred by:
- your family doctor
- a therapist, for example a vision/hearing/tester
- another such professional person, for example public health nurse, social worker, Plunket or your child's well child provider or school
Referrals are prioritised to ensure those most in need of a hearing test are seen first after which:
- you will receive an appointment card with directions to the appointment site on the back, two weeks before the appointment
- a reminder is sent by txt message or sometimes a phone call two days before the appointment
Where are appointments held?
We offer hearing tests at Villa 5 at Hawke's Bay Hospital, as well as at clinics at Napier Health and Wairoa Health. On arrival for your appointment the receptionist will:
- greet you on arrival and will ask you if your contact details are current and correct
- seat you in the waiting room until your appointment time
- usually an appointment will take around thirty minutes but if extra investigation is required may take longer
- generally appointments keep to time
- due to changing demand for hearing services you may experience delays in receiving an appointment date, for a child this is currently around three to six months from initial referral date. For an adult dependent on location it can vary from three to nine months wait time from referral to appointment.
- after the initial hearing assessent you may need an appointment for a follow-up, and more detailed test.
Getting to your appointment in Hastings
In Hastings you and a support person may both travel on the Go Bus for free on presentation of your yellow appointment card.
if travelling in by car there is a $1 fee to park for three and a half hours at the Hastings site (which is plenty of time for your appointment)
Hearing aids for adults
There is a cost associated to receiving a hearing aid depending on the type of aid reuired and varies from $300 - $2,000. There are subsidies available to assist with this cost and information on this is available at your appointment.
Once the hearing aid is ordered an appointment is scheduled a month or so later for the fitting of the aid/s.
Payment must be made for the hearing aid before you are able to take it on a two week trial period and then come back to check how it is going
Hearing tests for children
For children there is often only one appointment although in some situations further appointment/s may be required to get additional information or to check to see if hearing has improved after the initial test.
There is no cost for these appointments.
Newborn Hearing Screening
All newborn babies are eligible for a newborn hearing screen. If your baby is born at Ata Rangi, Waioha, or Wairoa a newborn hearing screener will visit you on the ward and offer the screening service.
If you accept the screening test there is a good chance it will be carried out while you are in the ward. If this does not happen or oyur baby was a home birth, you will be offered an outpatient’s appointment at a number of possible venues in either Central Hawkes Bay, Havelock North or Wairoa
The screening test is undertaken while baby sleeps, is settled or while feeding. The results will be discussed with you at the appointment after the test is completed.