Referral contacts
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 address at the top of this page
Adult referral form
Paediatric referral forms
Referral criteria
Cochlear implant (CI)
- pure tone average >70dBHL at .5, 1, 2, 4kHz or > 90dBHL at 2 and 4 kHz
- 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
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.