The Search For The UK & Ireland’s Best Audiologists Is Back For Another Year

A leading industry competition is once again open for entries as the 2016 Audiologist of the Year launches to the public.

The competition invites patients from across the UK and Ireland to nominate their hearing practitioner by describing the difference they have made to their lives. These heartfelt stories highlight the hard work of the country’s best audiologists and why they deserve to be rewarded on an international stage.

Audiologist of the Year is run by Rayovac, the world’s number one hearing aid battery manufacturer and a division of Spectrum Brands Inc., Audio Infos, a leading international hearing publication for the audiology industry, and the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturer’s Association (EHIMA), which represents Europe’s major hearing instrument manufacturers and promotes ongoing research related to hearing instruments. Each year, the three organisations come together to support Audiologist of the Year in 10 countries across Europe.

2016 is the competition’s ninth year, and with another impressive batch of entries submitted in 2015, the judges are gearing up for a bumper crop of stories from across the globe.

The competition celebrates and rewards audiologists who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide their patients with an exceptional level of care. It’s the perfect way for grateful patients to say ‘thank you’ to the practitioners that have made a difference to their lives through dedication to their field. Not only that, but the winning audiologist and the patient that nominated them will scoop an incredible prize bundle.

The winning audiologist will receive £250 plus a generous PR package to help them promote their practice or department. The patient who wrote the winning entry is also eligible for a cash prize and a gift bundle worth almost £500.

After a summer of reading and scoring patient entries, a panel of industry judges will decide on a winner from each of the 10 participating countries in September. Once these winners are announced, the top audiologists from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland will battle it out for the title of European Audiologist of the Year, announced at Rayovac’s Celebration of Excellence during the EUHA congress in Germany in October.

The 2016 European Audiologist of the Year winner will sit with the great company of the previous winners. In 2015 Herdis Menhardt from Austria was crowned as European winner after an emotional nomination from her patient, Susanne. Susanne’s son was treated by Herdis shortly after he was born.

Paula Brinson-Pyke, Marketing Director at Rayovac, said: “We are thrilled to be launching our Audiologist of the Year competition once again in 2016. Each year we are excited to receive a high volume of entries, and reading stories from patients whose lives have truly been changed by their practitioner just further reinforces what we already know – that the hearing industry contains some truly outstanding, dedicated professionals.”

Secretary General of the EHIMA, Søren Hougaard, said: “We’ve been supporting the competition for the past few years and it’s been really rewarding for both us and our members. We’re thrilled to be supporting Audiologist of the Year once again, and hope for even more entries than ever before this year.”

The Audiologist of the Year competition, which first ran in 2008, is the leading industry award for hearing professionals, and is judged by a panel of independent industry experts. All nominations are scored anonymously, with judges looking for audiologists who demonstrate:

  • Outstanding commitment to the patient
  • Support for the patient and family
  • Making a difference to the patient’s life
  • Knowledge about new technologies
  • Working closely with other specialists, providing a team approach
  • Working within the community / industry to raise awareness of hearing matters

Entries can be submitted online at www.audiologistoftheyear.eu

Entries close on 8th July 2016. All nominations must be submitted by patients, however audiologists can promote the competition in their practice by downloading promotional materials from the competition website.

"The competition celebrates and rewards audiologists who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide their patients with an exceptional level of care. It’s the perfect way for grateful patients to say ‘thank you’ to the practitioners that have made a difference to their lives through dedication to their field."