CQ Audiology runs a visiting clinic in Biloela at the Ace Medical Centre, 48 Grevillea Street, QLD 4715, bringing hearing services into the Callide Valley rather than asking people to give up a day to the drive. The practice is independent and family run, based at T33 and 34A, City Centre Plaza, 24 Fitzroy Street, Rockhampton. The audiologist who tests your hearing in Biloela is the same person who fits any device and sees you for reviews.
A clinic day in the Callide Valley
Biloela sits close to two hours from Rockhampton by road, and for people out towards Thangool, Jambin, Banana or Moura the trip is longer again. That distance is the reason many people put a hearing appointment off for years. Having an audiologist come to Biloela removes the excuse and makes the return visits practical. Hearing support works through small adjustments over time, and adjustments only happen when getting back to the clinician is straightforward.
Visiting-clinic days vary by location. Please call (07) 4848 6528 to confirm the next available clinic in Biloela before travelling.
Sound levels around farms, feedlots and the power station
The Callide Valley has an unusual mix of working environments for a town this size. The power station and its maintenance shutdowns, mining work nearby, cropping and cattle across the valley floor, feedlots, and the workshops keeping all of it running. Add an older tractor with no cab, an auger loading a silo, a chainsaw along a fence line and shooting for pest control, and the exposure builds quietly across a working life.
Protection only works if it is worn, and the plugs handed out at the gate often are not, because they are uncomfortable or they shut out too much. Custom moulded and filtered options are made to your ear and can be tuned so machinery noise drops away while speech and warning sounds still come through. We take the impressions at the Biloela clinic and post the finished plugs out. Pre employment and industrial deafness assessments can also be arranged on a clinic day.
Planning a visit when you are coming in from a property
A few practical things make the trip in worthwhile:
- Bring a partner, an adult child or a friend. A second set of ears means the explanation gets remembered, and they often describe the situations you are missing more accurately than you can.
- Bring a list of your medications and any ear history, including infections, surgery, perforations or head injuries.
- If you already wear hearing aids, bring them with the charger or spare batteries, even if you have given up on them.
- Think ahead about the three listening situations that frustrate you most, because that is what we build the plan around.
- Mention noisy work you do now or have done in the past.
How the appointment runs at Ace Medical Centre
Set aside about an hour. A visiting appointment follows the same hearing assessment process used at the Rockhampton rooms, with the equipment brought out to the clinic.
- We talk through your history and what has changed before any testing begins.
- Both ears are examined with a light and camera, checking the ear canal and the eardrum.
- If wax is in the way it can be removed by micro suction, because wax alone alters the results.
- You listen to tones at different pitches through headphones and respond even when they are barely there.
- Word and sentence testing shows how well you separate speech from the noise around it.
- Middle ear measurements indicate how the eardrum is moving and where the difficulty is coming from.
Everything is explained during the appointment, with the chart in front of you and the findings put in ordinary language. Sometimes the outcome is a review in twelve months. Sometimes it is communication strategies for the household. Sometimes it is a device. If the results suggest a medical cause, we will say so and point you back to your GP.
Keeping hearing aids going between clinic days
Hearing aids in the Callide Valley live a harder life than most. Heat, paddock dust, sweat and humidity all take a toll, and the shop selling replacement filters is not around the corner. Devices we supply are included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), and we set people up to look after them between visits.
- A cleaning routine you can do at the kitchen table, shown to you rather than printed on a leaflet.
- A drying container for humid weather and for anyone working up a sweat outdoors.
- Spare domes, wax filters and batteries kept at home, replenished by post between clinic days.
- Phone support, and remote adjustments through an app where the device allows it.
Hearing across the generations
Biloela families tend to stay put, and it is common for us to see grandparents, parents and grandchildren from the one household. When hearing changes for an older family member, the effect shows up at Sunday lunch, at the footy club, on speaker phone calls with grandchildren, and in halls with hard surfaces and difficult acoustics. Bringing the people you talk to most into the appointment means everyone leaves with the same strategies, such as facing each other before speaking and turning background noise down instead of raising voices.
Support with the cost of hearing services
We are open about pricing from the outset. Eligible pensioner concession card and DVA card holders may access services under the Australian Government Hearing Services Program; eligibility criteria apply. Some people are covered through a workplace arrangement, and private health extras cover often contributes towards devices. Ask when you call and we will explain what is likely to apply to you.
Where the Biloela clinic is held
You will find us at the Ace Medical Centre, 48 Grevillea Street, Biloela QLD 4715. Bookings go through the Rockhampton rooms, so call (07) 4848 6528, email reception@cqaudiology.com.au, or use the online booking form and we will hold a time for you on the next Biloela clinic. If it cannot wait, appointments are available at the Rockhampton rooms through the week and on Saturday mornings.
This page is general information, not personal medical advice. For guidance about your hearing, speak with a qualified professional.