Auracast could be coming to NHS-issued hearing aids … but probably not this year.
For non-UK-based readers of Aurahear, the majority of hearing aids in the UK are issued by the National Health Service (NHS): every year, its issues around 1.2 million devices and an estimated 355,000 adults are fitted with their first hearing aid. The cost, according to research by the University of Manchester, is in the region of £450m a year.
Securing NHS support for Auracast will be important if Bluetooth LE Audio is to become part of everyday life. In some ways, we have been here before: at the turn of the century, campaigners were pushing for the NHS to switch from analogue to digital hearing aids.
The UK’s system is effectively two-tier: while most will use NHS services, those willing to pay can see a private audiologist and choose the latest technology from a wider range, and the ability to upgrade when their budgets allow.
NHS patients have fewer choices, with audiologists fitting aids from a limited range selected by buyers. That selection can vary by location: in England, the NHS is organised into smaller units known as ICBs (Integrated Care Boards), each with its own purchasing power.
This will change as the Government’s 10-year Health Plan folds NHS England into the Department of Health and Social Care, while ICBs will be consolidated into 26 larger bodies from April. All of which means what is being planned today may be different tomorrow … but Auracast will be part of the conversations.
How the British Academy of Audiology is pushing for Auracast
Claire Benton is the president of the British Academy of Audiology (BAA). A Clinical Scientist and Hearing Aid Dispenser with nearly 30 years’ experience working in the NHS, she understands the pressures that the health service is under, and also the miracles that audiologists provide for those 355,000 adults reaching out for hearing help each year.
The BAA president describes it as a collaboration among its board, directors, and volunteers, all with diverse experience and knowledge.
“We are really passionate about maintaining continuous professional development for audiologists, advocating for our profession and the patients we serve – which is why we got into this career in the first place,” she says. “Sometimes that can be a little bit lost in the bureaucracy of the workplace, the profession, funding and everything else.
“We are trying to ensure we keep people with hearing loss and deaf patients at the heart of what we achieve, and ensure we have a solid, professional group of audiologists providing high-quality services.”
On top of that, the BAA helps audiologists understand, advocate for, and encourage improvements in technology. Claire says the organisation keeps its members informed so they understand what is available and how it works – that includes Auracast.
“At our conference last November, we joined forces with the RNID to start gaining information about what Audiologists know about accessibility and how they can make their services more accessible for all,” she explains. “For the first time, we broadcast our main sessions through Auracast, so we could give delegates the opportunity to listen. We were really excited.”
Claire says the demonstration was the first time many audiologists had experienced Auracast: “It’s still an emerging technology in public spaces, so to give people the opportunity to have a listen was really helpful, and we got some good feedback.”
One of the advantages of being BAA President is taking part in early demonstrations, and Claire attended one such event organised by a hearing aid manufacturer. She says it is one thing to learn about the potential benefits of Auracast, but another to experience it.
“It seems to be such a huge leap in quality,” she says. “The sound was so much better, and the ease of use means it is much less of a palaver.
“It’s exciting as it opens up the technology at different price points. You can buy Auracast-ready technology, and it doesn’t matter which hearing aid you have. It is much more accessible for personal use and in public spaces.”
The impact of Auracast
Claire is enthusiastic about Auracast because she can see that its potential goes way beyond those with hearing impairments.
“Created for hearing aids, its ease of use means it will have a wider use beyond the deaf community, and that is hopefully why more places will take it up,” she says.
“We are used to public spaces having WiFi; there is not a lot of difference between broadcasting an Auracast and having a WiFi network. You should be able to walk into somewhere and go, ‘Oh, that’s my WiFi log on, and the QR code next to it is their Auracast broadcast’.”
“Its potential is bigger: if you want to listen to music, you can, and also set your headphones to pick up Auracast: you can listen to music, do your work and still hear announcements on a train.”
Hearing train announcements is an issue, even for people with good hearing. Claire recounts a journey where her train was “phenomenally delayed” and she was not getting good updates.
“The announcement system was such poor quality that you couldn’t hear,” Claire recalls. “I was on deadline and stuck on a train that had stopped in the middle of nowhere with one train manager relaying information by going up and down nine carriages: the anxiety that induces. If they had Auracast, I could have just put on my headphones and heard the announcements above everything else.
“The fact that Auracast has multi-sensory uses is a turning point. It allows people with hearing aids to be part of something that everyone else is joining in with. You’re not asking for a special thing because you’ve got hearing aids, it’s just there, and lots of other people are using it. That is, I think, the really important part of normalising something.”
Claire hopes this will reduce some of the stigma around seeking help for hearing loss and make that support as common as getting new glasses. A new generation could be key here.
“When I go to some events, I see young adults really and strongly advocating for and being proud of their hearing aids and their technology. They want everything to be accessible, and they are happy to talk about it.
“That gives me hope.”
With Auracast, “it brings freedom and confidence. I feel it has the potential to be quite transformational.”
Can audiologists do more?
Aurahear has spoken with some hearing aid users who don’t know if they have a Telecoil built in their devices, and some don’t even know how to use the phone app to access features such as volume control. Is this a fault of audiologists failing to take the time to explain this to patients?
Claire says it’s partly due to the pressures faced by audiology departments, including the need to reduce waiting lists.
“Hospitals and all providers are trying to get as many people seen as fast as they can, so appointment times go down,” she says, adding that at appointments, audiologists need to fit the hearing aid, verify it, and do real ear measurements to ensure the best fit for the patients.
“You need to tell them how to put it in, the basic functions, where to get batteries from, what to do if it goes wrong … then you have to ensure your clinical notes are done,” she continues.
“That can all be a challenge. We’re finding it difficult to break that kind of feeling that audiologists are on a treadmill and don’t have time to deliver truly personalised care that finds out what situations the patients experience in their everyday lives.”
That pressure means additional programmes, such as Telecoils, may not be activated, as the patient hasn’t mentioned they will attend venues where one is installed.
“One of my big wins for Auracast is that it takes this out of the audiologist’s hands: nobody can say I didn’t have time for it, it is already in the hearing aid.”
Claire is clear that this situation isn’t an audiologist’s fault, instead saying it is the pressures that different NHS services are under, and even this can vary between locations.
“The BAA has published some Quality Standards for Adult Audiology so there is now a benchmark people can assess themselves against. We’re talking about finding out about a patient’s individual needs. Until we have consistent education routes and good placements for our students, where all these things are taken into account, we can’t say that every adult NHS patient is getting the best possible care. We’re a way off that.
“Departments are hammered for their waiting times, with the focus on new assessments.
“We have challenges – some providers are unable to fit hearing aids at the moment because their ICBs set their activity plan too low.”
An activity plan is a strategic document prepared by an NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) that outlines how it will commission, monitor, and fund local health services.
To ensure this isn’t just a pipe dream, the BAA has been working with MPs and NHS England to raise awareness of the pressures the current commissioning setup is imposing on local audiology clinics.
“The commissioning side is a bit of a mess, while the education side is being looked at. We need a big shakedown really,” Claire says.
Are audiologists behind the curve?
If the BAA can see the benefits of Auracast, why are we waiting? Claire says that part of the problem is that not every hearing aid has Auracast as standard, so patients aren’t aware that the technology exists. Meanwhile, audiologists will recommend the best hearing aid for a person’s hearing loss, regardless of the bells and whistles available.
“Usually, what sells technology to an audiologist is when they see their patient have their own epiphany of what they can now access. That is powerful. We’re just not there yet,” she admits.
“We will, if the BAA has anything to do with it.”
This starts with its Audiology Supplies Group, which helps set the specifications for the hearing aid tender that NHS supply chains use. A new version will be written in the coming months and used in the next wave of NHS purchasing.
Claire says: “We would like to add Auracast-ready devices, because we think its impact is significant – we need to open it up to as many people as possible.”
And here lies the issue with the ICBs and their reorganisation.
“Someone who is commissioning an audiology service now might be different to next year or next month. Maintaining that knowledge base is really important.”
There is hope as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – an independent body responsible for providing evidence-based guidance to improve health and social care in the UK – is conducting an assessment on recommended features in hearing aids, and it is an opportunity to push for the new Bluetooth LE Audio technology to be front and centre.
“NICE will have recommendations. We will have an influence on getting Auracast into that. We know that commissioners will look at what guidance is out there, and the NICE’s integrity is quite high.”
The caveat is that this will take time. Claire estimates it will be at least 12 months for this to trickle through – that tallies with the round table meeting last autumn, which saw a call for Auracast to be a ‘by 2030’ timeline: four years from now.
“We keep advocating for it, and the more public places that get it, the more patients will start asking for it. This drives uptake,” Claire says.
“Patients need to know what they can access on the NHS and what they are entitled to. It also provides education on audiology and what an NHS hearing aid can do, so that whenever a patient visits NHS audiology, they have the right expectations for the level of technology they should receive.
“I don’t think we should be shy in setting that standard pretty high.”
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Really enjoyed this interview — it highlights some very real and practical barriers around NHS adoption.
Cost concerns, rollout complexity, and uncertainty about real-world patient benefit are completely understandable at this stage.
At Avantree, we’re trying to help lower that barrier through our Auracast Clinic Program (ACP) — where clinics can trial equipment with no long-term commitment and evaluate it directly with their own patients.
Sometimes adoption simply needs a safe place to test.
If any clinics are curious, more details are here:
https://avantree.com/pages/auracast-clinic-program
Appreciate the continued discussion around making broadcast audio more accessible within public healthcare systems.