Job overview

We are looking for an Audiology Apprentice to join our enthusiastic Audiology team at Hampshire Hospital Foundation Trust.

As an Audiology Apprentice, you will benefit from a 4 year fully funded and supported Level 6 Healthcare Science Apprenticeship in Audiology at Aston University and earn a competitive apprenticeship salary, whilst being part of a team and gaining transferable knowledge and skills.

You will study part-time and will qualify with a BSc (Hons) Healthcare Science (Audiology) degree on completion, plus an Apprenticeship Certificate. Your learning will include a blend of theory and practice and will involve both university and self-directed learning. Once successfully qualified, you will be eligible to apply for band 5 positions.

The post holder will be required to work in a wide range of clinical settings, including the various hospitals run by the trust.

Main duties of the job

During the 4 year apprenticeship you will be supported with training to be able to perform these responsibilities.

• Undertake routine pure tone audiometry, tympanometry, acoustic reflex testing and otoacoustic emissions for ENT clinics.
• Conduct clinics where patients have been referred directly to Audiology for routine hearing assessment and consideration of appropriate hearing aid fitting.
• Explanation of results to patients, which may involve dealing with emotional people.  Communication methods should be adapted to ensure the patient and/or carer has optimal understanding, for example, by using recognised communication tactics for the hearing impaired.
• Undertake a range of auditory rehabilitative procedures to include the selection, fitting, verification and evaluation of hearing aids on adult patients of all ages.
• Maintain and perform basic repairs on hearing aids and ear moulds to include re-tubing, re-shaping of ear moulds and electro-acoustic monitoring of performance using listening checks and hearing aid test boxes.
• Carry out examination of the ear by otoscopy on adults to identify pathologies or contra-indications to tests/procedures.  Techniques will need to be adapted to suit the individual.
• To take accurate aural impressions of adults. The technique needs to be adapted in certain cases.

Working for our organisation

Our vision is to provide outstanding care for every patient. Patient care is at the heart of what we do at our three sites: Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester and Andover War Memorial Hospital. Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides medical and surgical services to a population of approximately 600,000 people across Hampshire and parts of West Berkshire.

Our cultural ambition is to have a culture that places people at the heart of all we do, where we all belong, and where learning, improvement and excellence thrive.

We provide specialist services to people across the UK and internationally. We are one of only two centres in the UK treating pseudomyxoma peritonei (a rare form of abdominal cancer) and we are leaders in the field of tertiary liver cancer and colorectal cancer.

The trust employs more than 9,000 staff and has a turnover of over £500 million a year. As a Foundation Trust, we are directly accountable to our members through the governors. The Council of Governors represent the interests of their constituencies and influence the future plans of the Foundation Trust.