Strike action is taking place in June. We'll contact you directly if you or your child's appointment is affected.

There are rail strikes planned for June, which may affect your journey to our hospital and community centres. If you or your child has an appointment booked, please do all you can to attend. Plan your journey ahead and allow extra time.

Hearing Implant Centre referrals

Who can refer

Referrals are considered from:

  • ENT consultants
  • audiological physicians
  • scientists and technicians
  • paediatricians
  • speech and language therapists
  • teachers of the deaf
  • GPs.

To proceed with funding, a medical referral is required.

How to refer

To send a referral or request specialist information, please email us using the email addresses in the referrals contacts box on this page.

Referral forms

Referral criteria

""

Cochlear implant (CI)

  • pure tone audiometric thresholds equal to or greater than 80dB HL at 2 or more frequencies (500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000Hz, 3000Hz and 4000Hz) bilaterally without acoustic hearing aids
  • limited benefit from wearing hearing aids
  • children: do not wait for speech / language delay
  • congenital, acquired, progressive, sudden onset.
""

Auditory brainstem implant (ABI)

  • unsuitable for CI
  • non-neurofibromatosis type 2
  • cochlear nerve aplasia
  • cochlear obliteration (ostosclerosis, ossification)
  • cochlear nerve avulasion (skull base fracture).
""

Electric-acoustic stimulation (EAS)

  • air conduction (AC) thresholds within shaded area
  • stable sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL)
  • no air-borne gap >15dBHL
  • limited benefit from hearing aids
  • no external ear contraindications to wearing an earmould.
""

Middle ear implant (MEI)

  • SNHL (AC thresholds within orange shaded area) or mixed/CHL (BC thresholds within brown outline)
  • stable hearing loss
  • inability to wear conventional hearing aids due to medical reasons (eg chronic otitis media, psoriasis, congenital malformations of ear canal/pinna, allergies, exostoses, furunculosis, etc)
  • no retrocochlear or central auditory disorders.
""

Bone conduction implants (BCI)

  • bone conduction thresholds within green area
  • inability to wear conventional hearing aids (eg chronic otitis media or otitis externa, congenital malformations, otosclerosis, recurrent ear infections due to hearing aid usage)
  • unilateral profound SNHL, with normal BC thresholds in the better hearing ear.

Referral contacts

Tel: 020 7188 6245

Post:
Hearing Implant Centre
Ear, nose and throat (ENT) services
2nd floor, Lambeth Wing
St Thomas’ Hospital
Westminster Bridge Road
London SE1 7EH