I have two things I would like to share in this blog, and both involve supporting each other and our members.
Last week, in my service, we had our Audit Day – usually we go through the audits we have covered and look at what we need to do next. This time I wanted it to be different, so we worked in small groups that moved around and covered questions about the service, if it was working, what could we improve etc. We interspersed these with two other sessions – one creative and one on mental health and wellbeing. We have great feedback from the serious stuff but what I realised is that we often don’t give ourselves permission to just ‘play’.
Our creative session gave us all the chance to find that inner child and for those moments just switch off from any pressures and stresses – it worked. Our other session was all about self-awareness and kindness, and this is particularly important for all of us every day. Being aware that at times unpleasant things happen, things do not go right, major upheavals can affect our emotional state which in turn can unwittingly affect how we treat others. We have been through a difficult period and some of us are still having challenging times. It was a salient reminder to take care of each other and ourselves and be mindful of how we can be perceived by others.
The other thing I would like to share involves the partners we work. They wish to help us all with the challenge of meeting the hearing needs of the patients we still need to fit with hearing devices and who, for whatever reason, were unable to access our services during the pandemic. BIHMA review the number of hearing aids that are sold in the UK, and they realised that the number of hearing devices had dropped so significantly that over 400,000 had not been fitted, with either new, replacement or upgrade products. BIHIMA would like to help all audiologists if they are finding it difficult to meet any backlog and any significant increase in referrals now patients can access GPs (though as many of us know, trying to get through to GPs is still challenging).
So, please can I ask of you, are you having any difficulties with backlogs, funding for this year etc? If we can provide evidence this will help with campaigning to make sure we have the resources to meet the needs of the people we serve. Email me with any information: admin@baaudiology.org
BAA are here to support you professionally and there are resources in the members area for this – and these will continue to grow when we know what else will be of value to you – so please do keep in touch.
Take care
Kathryn Lewis