An audiologist is a university qualified hearing health professional who measures how well you hear, works out where in the ear a difficulty sits, and helps you decide what to do about it. CQ Audiology brings that service to Blackwater on a periodic basis, working from a consulting room at North Blackwater General Practice, 14 Blain Street, QLD 4717. Our main rooms are at T33 & 34A, City Centre Plaza, 24 Fitzroy Street in Rockhampton, and the audiologist who sits down with you on Blain Street is the same one you would see there.
Visiting-clinic days vary by location. Please call (07) 4848 6528 to confirm the next available clinic in Blackwater before travelling.
The person behind the title
Hearing care in regional Queensland is delivered by several kinds of clinician, and from the outside the job titles all look much the same. An audiologist completes an undergraduate degree and then a master's level qualification in audiology that includes supervised clinical placements. That training covers assessment of the whole ear, hearing devices, tinnitus management, and results that are unusual or hard to interpret. Rajesh Geddada, who travels out to run the Blackwater visiting clinic, is a qualified audiologist and hearing care professional who keeps up ongoing professional development.
Rosters, swings and finding an hour in the week
Appointment timing is the awkward part in a shift town. Nightshift finishes when most services open. Days off land midweek, or they land on the week we are not in town. A visiting clinic day fills up quickly once word gets around, so the sooner you put your name down, the more say you have over the time slot. Tell reception what you are working when you call.
- Say up front whether you are on days, nights or a fly in roster, and which days are genuinely free.
- If your partner has been meaning to get checked too, book the two of you back to back.
- Allow around an hour for a first appointment. A hearing aid adjustment takes far less.
- Coming off nightshift and short on sleep is not ideal for a careful listening test, so pick a slot after a rest.
- Bring your Medicare card, any pensioner concession or DVA card, and any hearing aids you own.
Keeping a hearing record that belongs to you
A great many people in Blackwater have had their hearing checked at some point through work. Those checks usually sit in a company system and are screening measures done for a workplace purpose. An assessment with an audiologist is a fuller picture, carried out in a properly set up room, explained to you face to face, and written up as a record that is yours to keep, take to your GP, or carry to your next employer. Over a working life on the coal fields, your own dated results to compare against are quietly useful.
What we will not do is tell you what caused any one person's hearing change. No single test can separate one exposure from another, and we would rather say so plainly than guess in front of you.
The range of work an audiologist covers
An appointment on Blain Street is a working consultation, not a token check. Most of what people need is finished on the day.
- Diagnostic hearing assessment for adults, with the chart shown and explained to you on the day.
- Fitting new hearing aids, or reprogramming and fine tuning aids you already wear.
- Cleaning, retubing, new domes, wax filters and batteries.
- Ear impressions for custom earplugs, whether for the workshop, the bike, the water or sleeping through daylight.
- Tinnitus assessment and management, and communication strategies for the household.
- Pre-employment and industrial deafness assessments, and paperwork under the Australian Government Hearing Services Program.
Some things genuinely need the Rockhampton rooms, because the equipment does not travel. Cochlear implant assessment, work needing the full diagnostic suite, stubborn ear wax better handled with micro-suction, and workshop level hearing aid repairs all sit in that group. If your appointment turns up one of those, we will say so on the day and help you plan a single trip in.
Coming in from a camp or a neighbouring town
Blackwater draws people in from well beyond its own streets. Some live in camp accommodation and are only in town for a swing. Others drive in from Bluff, Dingo, Comet or Duaringa because Blain Street is closer than anywhere else with a hearing clinician in it. You do not need to be a patient of the general practice to see us there, since we are simply borrowing a quiet room for the day.
What it costs, and what help exists
Cost stops plenty of people before they even pick up the phone, so it is better dealt with early. Eligible pensioner concession card and DVA card holders may access services under the Australian Government Hearing Services Program; eligibility criteria apply. Tell reception which cards you hold when you call and we will check where you stand well before the clinic day. Where a device is recommended, we will talk through what sits at each price level, and any hearing aid we supply is included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG).
Booking a time with our audiologist in Blackwater
Call (07) 4848 6528 to check when the next Blackwater clinic is running and to have your name put down, or email reception@cqaudiology.com.au and we will phone you back. If a clinic day and your roster refuse to line up, our visiting clinic further west in Emerald may suit, and the Rockhampton clinic runs Monday to Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm and Saturday mornings 9:00am to 12:00pm.
CQ Audiology Visiting Sites
This page is general information, not personal medical advice. For guidance about your hearing, speak with a qualified professional.