We are required to keep a register of people with hearing impairment. However, registration is entirely voluntary. There are a number of categories of deaf and hard of hearing registration dependent on your degree of hearing loss. You will be offered an assessment by a member of staff in the adult sensory support team. As part of the assessment you will be asked to complete a registration form which will record your level of hearing loss. The Durham County Council Sensory Support Team are social workers, rehabilitation officers and social work assistants who help support people who have a hearing or sight loss. The team includes workers with appropriate communication skills to work with deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people and their families. They aimto work with you to provide information and a range of services to help you live as independently as possible and do this by a process called an assessment of need.

About 698,000 of these people are severely or profoundly deaf. 450,000 severely or profoundly deaf people can't hear well enough to use a voice telephone, even with equipment to make it louder.  Hearing loss is usually described in terms of severity: mild, moderate, severe and profound.

Local service (Easington, Teesdale, Wear Valley, Chester-le-Street, Derwentside, Sedgefield).

Please contact Social Care Direct if you would like to find out more:
Social Care Direct
email: scd@durham.gov.uk
Tel: 0845 850 5010
Fax: 0191 383 5752
Minicom: 0142 988 4124

Information / Signposting / Gateway service, Health & wellbeing services

08/02/2012