Evaluation of the South West London Hearing Health Pathway Pilot

Insight worked with colleagues from South Central and West Commissioning Support Unit to design and analyse the qualitative component of this NHSE commissioned evaluation into an innovative community pharmacy based hearing health pathway pilot in South West London. Our role was to design interview guides for community pharmacists and GPs, brief interviewers on data collection, analyse qualitative data and write up qualitative findings and recommendations. The pilot ran for 12 months from September 2022 across 21 community pharmacies in the boroughs of Merton, Wandsworth and Richmond. It was designed to address a lack of equitable and free NHS hearing health services (including earwax removal) in the area, which could lead to long waiting times, health inequalities and increased pressure on secondary care services. The evaluation investigated whether the pilot pathway was acceptable, feasible, usable, sustainable and safe. The report concluded that the pilot was worthwhile, effective and beneficial for local patients’ hearing needs. It also identified recommendations for ongoing improvement and at-scale commissioning.