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"I have left the department much worst off!!!"

About: Royal Victoria Hospital / Audiology Hearing Aid Department

(as the patient),

In my experience, something needs to be fixed or sorted at this department as it was a shambles!

I had an appointment with a member of staff where I was treated awfully. I was given new hearing aids which we spent ages trying to sort since the quality was brutal compared to my old pairs. I was eventually told I would get used to it and made to leave. When I asked for my old pair of hearing aids because I felt my hearing was left significantly worse, the member of staff had already lost them, stating that they weren’t there (at the audiology department even though I gave them to them 5 mins previously), therefore meaning I had to leave with poor hearing quality with no back up.

I then went back in 20 mins later to try and sort it out since I felt it was not good enough and the member of staff made it even worse and then told me I’d get used to it, making the situation even worse.

Secondly, in the mail I was given the wrong hearing aid batteries to what I asked for.

Lastly, when I had to revisit again to try and fix my hearing aid's audio quality, I had to leave with slightly improved audio quality and the loop system turned off as well as volume function which are hugely important since the loop system being needed for university and the volume control being needed for the poor audio quality!

I wish I never visited in the first place as I have left the department much worst off!!!

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Responses

Response from Mandy Dougan, Service Manager - Ear Nose and Throat, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust last week
Mandy Dougan
Service Manager - Ear Nose and Throat, Royal Victoria Hospital,
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
Submitted on 17/10/2025 at 17:18
Published on Care Opinion at 17:18


picture of Mandy Dougan

Good afternoon JohnSmith64

My name is Mandy Dougan and I am the service manager for ENT service which includes the Audiology department. Thank you for taking the time to provide us with some feedback on your experience today at your Audiology appointment. I am saddened to learn that your visit was not a positive experience for you. This is not the standard of care we aim to deliver to our patients within the ENT service and I acknowledge this visit has been very distressing and challenging for you. I would like to reach out to you to explore these issues further in the hope that we can address your concerns and rectify your issues.

You can contact the Audiology department directly and speak with our Audiology Lead Aoife Rushe. Alternatively please feel free to contact myself, Mandy Dougan, Service manager or Wendy Dobbin Assistant Service manager on the contact details below and we would be more than happy to look into this further for you. Once again on behalf of the team I would like to apologise for your poor experience today and offer you assurance that we value your feedback and want to take proactive measures to resolve this for you and improve our service delivery overall.

Many Thanks

Mandy Dougan

Service Manager, ENT

Contact details:

mandy.dougan@belfasttrust.hscni.net or

wendy.dobbin@belfasttrust.hscni.net

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