Hear to Help

As some of you may be aware, the Hear to Help service which runs on Arran, was due to close on 31st March as no continuation funds have been made available from NHS Ayrshire and Arran or the local authorities.  This means that no hearing aid support will be available on the island and service users will have to travel to Crosshouse Hospital to access this.

Arran is already much disadvantaged in its medical provision – Lamlash hospital is equipped to do many of the procedures we have to go to Crosshouse for, such as endoscopies, but the trained staff are not here, as allocation has been cut to the bone.

As such, a protest was held on Wednesday 9th March at Brodick Ferry Terminal and many people turned out to say “Save Hear to Help!”  The service is extremely important for hearing aid wearers who live on the island, and this service currently supports in excess of 150 Arran residents.