I have no evidence to suggest that there is a general shortage of student audiology technicians, although there are no doubt difficulties in some localities.
I accept that audiology services will need to be expanded, and discussions with hospital authorities are in progress.
In most cases audiology tests were only performed in patients where, in the consultant's opinion the patient maintained some level of functional hearing.
The organisation of audiology departments and hearing aid centres is the responsibility of district health authorities.
I was pleased that the campaign was supported in some parts of the country by local audiology services.
Quite simply, audiology is not, or was not, a priority.
There are no national performance indicators for national health service audiology services.
The responsibility for audiology and hearing aid services rests with individual health authorities.
