31 July 2026

Beyond the announcement – What Brighton’s Auracast installation means for hearing care.

UK rail’s first permanent Auracast installation is as a huge development for passenger experience. For audiologists and dispensers, it’s something more: A signal of how the growing availability of broadcast audio is reshaping everyday listening for hearing instrument users.

A familiar challenge – hearing in noisy environments

Anyone who has fitted hearing devices knows the complaint before the patient finishes the sentence: public transport stations, terminals and echoing public halls can be some of the hardest listening environments for people with hearing loss. Reverberant architecture, competing announcements and background noise conspire against speech clarity, and for the 18 million people in the UK who are deaf or have hearing loss, the risk missing an announcement is significant.

New technology at Brighton train station is a ‘game changer’

Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express have permanently fitted Auracast technology at Brighton station — the first permanent installation of its kind on the UK rail network. The system uses Bluetooth LE Audio to broadcast station announcements from the public address system directly to compatible hearing aids, earbuds and headphones, in what the operators describe as crystal-clear, high-fidelity audio. Crucially, there’s no pairing required: compatible devices simply pick up the broadcast.

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26 June 2026

Sensory Loss Charity Receives Funding to Deliver Tinnitus Self-Management Support

Forth Valley Sensory Centre is one of 23 projects across Scotland awarded a share of nearly £2.2 million to help empower people to live well and take control of their health and wellbeing.

The Self Management Fund, administered by the Health and Social Care Alliance (the ALLIANCE), announced the grants today to organisations supporting people living with long term conditions, disabled people and unpaid carers.

Forth Valley Sensory Centre, based in Camelon, were successful in their application for £15,000 to deliver their Tinnitus Tactics and Techniques project over the next 12-months, which will support people with sensory loss who are also experiencing Tinnitus through a programme of structured 10-week courses.

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UPDATE – 23 June 2026

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwdTM4H6o9A

First patients welcomed to the new Plymouth Community Diagnostic Centre | Latest News | University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

ORIGINALPRESS RELEASE – 19 June 2026

The Plymouth Community Diagnostic Centre (PCDC) has been officially opened by Luke Pollard MP and University Hospitals NHS Trust colleagues, marking a major milestone in improving access to diagnostic services for local people.

Located on Western Approach in Plymouth City Centre, the £22 million facility will provide a wide range of vital tests, scans and checks in a convenient, community-based setting. The new centre is expected to deliver more than 91,600 diagnostic tests each year, with capacity for up to 330 appointments per day, helping reduce waiting times and improve patient experience.

The PCDC is equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostic technology, including two MRI scanners, two CT scanners – one of which is a specialist cardiac CT scanner, and two X-ray rooms. Additional services include ultrasound, phlebotomy, lung function testing and audiology.

By bringing these services into the heart of the city, the centre will help patients access care more quickly and closer to home, while also easing pressure on Derriford Hospital. The central location also enables patients to attend multiple appointments in a single visit and benefit from nearby amenities, such as shops and cafés, supporting a more convenient and flexible healthcare experience.

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4 June 2026

The British Irish Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (BIHIMA) has launched its 2026 audiologist survey, inviting hearing care professionals across the UK and Ireland to share their experiences of a sector continuing to evolve at pace.

Building on previous editions – including the 2024/2025 survey report which highlighted growing demand, workforce pressures and the need for system-wide reform – this year’s survey aims to provide a clearer picture of how the landscape is shifting and where further change may be needed.

A key focus of the 2026 survey is to track developments over time. By revisiting a number of core questions, BIHIMA hopes to build a longitudinal view of the challenges and opportunities facing audiology, while also identifying where progress has been made.

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4 June 2026

Tinnitus UK Partners with Download Festival to Champion Hearing Health.

Tinnitus UK will be attending Download Festival 2026, marking the charity’s first on-site collaboration with Live Nation and one of the UK’s largest music festivals.

The partnership represents an exciting next step in Tinnitus UK’s growing work with the music industry and builds directly on the success of Tinnitus Week 2026, which reached more than 40 million people through a national campaign focused on hearing health, live music and prevention.

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28 May 2026

BIHIMA has released Q1 2026 data on hearing technology market figures, revealing an uplift in overall sales alongside notable growth in rechargeable adoption.

• UK private hearing instrument sales increased by 12.5% on Q4 2025.
  UK NHS (public) sales dropped by 9%, above Q3 levels and recovering from Q4.
  ROI sales jumped to 33,920 – a substantial increase of 33% on Q4.

BIHIMA – the British Irish Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association – has released the latest Q1 2026 data on hearing instrument sales across the UK and Republic of Ireland (ROI), pointing to a strong start to the year.

UK private sales of 145,575 units have surpassed recent sales, with a 12.5% jump on 129,371 unit sales in Q4, suggesting good consumer engagement with the private hearing care sector.

Public (NHS) sales of 457,247 are lower than the 503,462 recorded at the end of Q4 2025, however they are higher than Q3 and Q2 figures of the same year. In the ROI, we’ve seen a significant increase of 33% with 33,920 units sold compared to Q4 2025, which is also a 26% increase compared to Q1 2025.

Rechargeables: a pivotal shift in public sector adoption

Rechargeable hearing instruments continue to dominate private sales in the UK, with 135,847 units sold in Q1 2026 – equivalent to 93% of all private sales and a further increase on the previous quarter, extending a consistent trend of approximately 1.5 percentage point growth every quarter.

At 26,287 units, rechargeables now represent 5.8% of all public (NHS) sector sales – a significant jump from the 3.6% rate that has remained broadly static for the previous year.

In the ROI, rechargeable units account for 67% of sales – a slight reduction on previous quarters, though rechargeable hearing devices continue to represent the clear majority of the Irish market.

Paul Surridge, Chairman of BIHIMA, said: “The data shows a strong start to 2026 and the breadth of growth we’ve seen in these latest figures is encouraging. In particular, the shift to a greater number of rechargeable hearing instruments in the NHS is a meaningful development towards improved sustainability.

Read the full Q1 2026 Report HERE

9 April 2026

This announcement highlights Imbiba’s investment in Pindrop Hearing and outlines plans to expand its independent, clinically led audiology model across London and the South East.

At a time when the hearing care sector is experiencing increasing consolidation, this story offers a timely perspective on the value of a clinically driven, independent approach to audiology—an issue Pindrop Hearing believes will be of particular interest to BSA members.

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3 March 2026

Struggling to hear these common every-day sounds could be an early warning sign of hearing loss according to an expert from RNID (the national charity supporting the more than 18 million people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus).

The piece reveals the top 10 most common sounds people may struggle to hear as clearly – such as birdsong, the doorbell, or the ping on a microwave and what to do if you think you might need your ears checked.

It also includes a case study: Adam Felman, a musician and writer from Worthing. He began losing his hearing in his 20s and after being fitted with hearing aids, he describes how the world was suddenly full of all the sounds he was missing.

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13 February 2026

Tinnitus Week 2026 concluded last week with a series of high-profile activities led by Tinnitus UK, bringing together policymakers, musicians, health professionals and audiences to address the growing impact of tinnitus linked to live music and sound exposure.

The week opened at the House of Lords, where Tinnitus UK launched Amplifying Awareness: Live Music and Tinnitus, new research drawing on insights from across the live music ecosystem, including professional musicians, industry workers, gig-goers and festival audiences. The findings highlighted how widespread exposure to unsafe sound levels remains, alongside low awareness of hearing protection and inconsistent standards across venues.

Diarmuid Flavin, Neuromod’s Chief Operating Officer said “It was an honour to speak at the House of Lords as part of Tinnitus UK’s Tinnitus Week campaign” “Recognising the impact of long-term noise exposure within the entertainment economy is a critical step toward translating evidence into better awareness, improved protection, and meaningful change for people living with tinnitus.”

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27 January 2026

New research released today (Tuesday 27^th January) by RNID has exposed an overwhelming lack of NHS staff training in England on their legal duties towards people who are deaf or have hearing loss, leaving millions of adults facing significant health risks.

A series of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from RNID – the national charity supporting the 18 million people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus – have revealed a shocking 92% of NHS staff in England have not completed training on the Accessible Information Standard (AIS).

The standard – which has been in place since 2016 – sets out patients’ rights under the Equality Act and ensures the NHS meets its obligations towards the needs of people with a disability or sensory loss.

The findings follow a damning report from charities RNID and SignHealth, Still Ignored: The Fight for Accessible Healthcare, which revealed how the NHS is routinely failing to apply the Accessible Information Standard, leaving over 6 million adults who are deaf or have hearing loss regularly facing an uphill struggle to get vital information on their own health – including serious illness.

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