Further testing (if required)

Seeing a surgeon often involves a long wait time for an appointment and can be very expensive. In order to give you the highest chance that you will be seen by the most suitable surgeon at ENT North, and to reduce the need for repeated appointments as we get the results of tests that tell us what care you need, we will arrange for you to have either medical imaging (‘x-rays’), blood tests, hearing tests (‘audiograms’) or other tests prior to your appointment with one of our surgeons.

These will be sent to you by our staff when we get your referral and a surgeon has had a chance to see what tests are needed. You are free to get these done at any location in the community that you choose, if our preferred providers are not the usual place where you get your tests.

The purpose behind having you do these investigations before your appointment is to ensure that when you do come to see your surgeon, that we have all the necessary information available on the day, so we can do a thorough assessment and recommend appropriate treatment at the earliest possible point – hopefully a ‘One-Stop-Shop.’ We find that most of our patients have their ENT Surgery care earlier, with fewer appointments – and therefore lower costs – if they do have these tests done first.

In some cases, we find that having got that information our surgeons realise that the condition that you were referred to us for would be better treated by another ENT service (Some ENT conditions need highly specialised care provided by only a handful of surgeons in the state) or may respond more effectively to alternate, non-ENT, care. Our staff will contact you accordingly and we will contact your GP to explain where they should refer you to for more effective care. The purpose behind this is to avoid the delay, expense and inevitable frustration of an unnecessary appointment with one of our surgeons.

When our surgeons recommend further tests before your appointment, it is necessary for you to have these done prior to us being able to book you in. You are, of course, very welcome to seek an ENT opinion from another service with different protocols, and we would wish you all the best if you did choose to do that. If you’ve already had the tests organised at a third-party location without our knowledge, please organise for those results to come through to us for our surgeons to review.

Ear Symptoms

If you have been referred to see us for any ear problem (except for certain urgent conditions), we will need you to undergo a hearing test (‘audiogram’) prior to seeing our surgeon. This includes referrals for problems such as you feeling you have hearing loss, but also tinnitus/ringing in your ears, pressure/fullness/blockage of your ears, eustachian tube dysfunction or ear pain.

Having this done prior to seeing our surgeon will mean we can usually confirm your diagnosis and start treatment after one appointment. If you choose not to have a hearing test when recommended we often will not be able to offer you an appointment, or we may need you to return for another appointment after having one done before we can confirm your treatment plan. This will both delay having your problem treated and cost you more money.

A hearing test can be done with our in-house audiologist. We are also happy to accept hearing tests from community audiologists if they have done a full hearing test (air and bone conduction) and pressure testing (‘tympanometry’). You must send us a copy of the hearing test or confirm with our staff that it was attached to your GP referral.