Here at Blamey Saunders hears we get questions to do with hearing and hearing aids that come from all over the country. My team of audiologists and audiology assistants have found some of the stories incredulous. I don’t think any of us had any idea how bad the situation in hearing care in Australia had become. For the last two years, I have sat quiet on these stories, but not any more. Watch this blog. I am going to start telling them.

We have a goal to help change the situation, and to bring top quality hearing aids to the 4/5 of people who would otherwise go without, and to support them with a service of unparalleled quality. Let’s look at three things:

* The prevailing hearing aid supply system in Australia is broken.
* The cost of private hearing aids is predominantly ridiculous. So we have cut it in half.
* Our hearing aids have clinically trialled technology – how many suppliers can say that?
* Some of the technology we use is also in the bionic ear of Cochlear Ltd.

Let me give an example to start things off.

We saw a young woman this week with a moderate bilateral hearing loss, who had been told that she no longer needed hearing aids, by a Government hearing aid agency. She says they didn’t test her hearing. We helped out.

Expect a story a week. And send me your stories.

I can’t tell you how often I see people who should have had hearing aids years ago, who put it off due to the price quoted. That’s why I am trying to change the world. Hearing is a mainstream health issue, not a side issue. Australia has a fine reputation for hearing research; Australia developed the Flying Doctor service. We should be leading in hearing health care. Here at Blamey Saunders there is a team of 20 people trying to put it right.