CI Referral Tool

This tool is intended as a guide for referring clinicians in the UK seeing adults and is based on the BCIG guidance. Please note that patients with meningitis or sudden severe/profound losses should be referred on urgently. If you want further guidance on a particular case, contact your local CI team.

Enter hearing test results below. If threshold not reached, type 'NR' in the appropriate box.


FAQ

The NICE referral guidelines only refer to frequencies 0.5,1,2,3,4Khz. The patient's hearing at other frequencies can be at any level, normal through to profound.

BSL users are eligable for referral, however non verbal adults may not gain significant benefit. Discuss with your local CI team.

Age is no barrier to implantation. Surgery can be done under local anaesthetic if required. Let the implant team and surgeons decide if your patient is well enough for surgery.

Adults with complex needs can be referred. Just remember that patients will need to be able to attend regular appointments at the CI centre and may need good support to use a CI regularly. Consider the wider support network around the person with a hearing loss.

Adults with thresholds better than 2 frequencies at 80 dB or more may be suitable for implantation if dead regions are suspected. Warning signs include very poor outcomes with hearing aids, AB speech test scores below 50%, greater impact of hearing loss than expected from the audiogram and difficulty hearing without lip reading. If possible do a TEN test to confirm dead regions. Discuss cases with your local CI team.

It is recommended that a hearing test has been completed in the last 12 months, moulds are a good fit and patients are optimally aided.

The logic is described in detail in our readme.