The Team – YAIS

Our multidisciplinary team of professionals aim to provide a quality patient centred service.

Here is a quick guide to some of the people you may meet and what they do.

YAIS/Cochlear Implant Team

Consultant ENT Surgeons

Dave Strachan — **Mr D R Strachan**
Consultant ENT Surgeon

**Mr D R Strachan**
Consultant ENT Surgeon

The consultant ENT surgeons have specialist experience and knowledge about cochlear implants. They perform cochlear implant and other ENT surgery. Patients/parents will see them at clinic appoitnments pre and post surgery.

Cochlear Implant Service Manager

Rob oversees YAIS (Yorkshire Auditory Implant Service) which includes both the Audiology and Cochlear Implant Services

Service Co-ordinator

Catherine Totten

The Service Co-ordinator manages the cochlear implant team and ensures patients are assessed and supported appropriately, meeting their needs and the requirements of Quality Standards.

Administrative Team

The admin team work closely with all the professional groups who make up the Cochlear Implant Team. They handle all new referrals, organise your appointments and send out clinic letters. They liaise between the service and other hospital departments regarding such things as scans and admissions.

Audiologists/Clinical Scientists (Audiology)

**Catherine Totten**
Principal Clinical Scientist (Audiology) – Lead Scientist

The audiologists assess and monitor patients’ hearing. When a child or adult has cochlear implants the audiologists will ensure that the implants are working well and monitor the patient’s progress which includes the use of specialist assessment. You can talk to them about your or your child’s hearing levels, hearing aids, what a cochlear implant is and how it works.

Audiologist Assistants

Kishwer Hussain
Audiology Officer/Assistant Healthcare

The technical officers look after the patients’ equipment by providing care and technical support. You can ask them advice about spares and repairs and how to troubleshoot faults and problems.

Paediatric Rehabilitationists

The rehabilitationists assess and monitor how children listen and communicate pre and post implant. As the child’s key worker they liaise with parents/carers as well as other professionals working with the child. They are based at the centre but do outreach visits to home, school and other educational settings.

Adult Speech & Language Therapists

Julie Carter
Speech and Language Therapist

The adult speech and language therapists support adult patients who are being assessed for a cochlear implant. They ensure patients, and those closest to them, are informed and realistic about the cochlear implant and are ready to work with the new sound. They support adult cochlear implant recipients following implantation to support them through the process of adapting to their cochlear implant.

Rehabilitation Support Worker

The RSW supports families for whom English is a second language, enabling them to access the service without language restrictions. This allows patients and parents to be more involved with their healthcare through both spoken and written information in a range of home languages.