THE HEARING CLINIC - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Audiologist
- Director
- Member of the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists
Bridgitte studied Audiology and Speech Pathology at Tygerberg, the medical campus of Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
After moving to the UK in 1999, she began working as a senior audiologist for the NHS, fitting adult hearing aids and supporting Ear, Nose, and Throat specialists. Bridgitte then worked for a hearing aid manufacturer where she specialised in hearing aid technologies.
Between 2005 - 2011 Bridgitte was Clinical Lead for Children's Hearing Services in the NHS. Bridgitte specialised in diagnosing hearing loss in newborn babies, auditory processing disorders and hyperacusis in children on the Autistic Spectrum.
Between 2011 - 2015 Bridgitte lectured at UCL on the Aural Rehabilitation and hearing aid module as well as on the Clinical Practice module. During this time she taught Trisha who now works at The Hearing Clinic.
Making a life-changing impact on her patients
In 2005, Bridgitte set up The Hearing Clinic to provide high quality, specialist audiological care to adults and children. It is the first clinic in the United Kingdom to receive the Inspired by Ida label, a prestigious accreditation that is awarded to clinics that are committed to providing Person Centred Care. During the course of her career, Bridgitte has amassed a wealth of knowledge and experience in diverse aspects of audiology.
Bridgitte is a member of the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists. She is also a member of:
Health and Care Professions Council
British Society of Audiology
British Academy of Audiology
Royal College of Clinical Physiologists
Bridgitte is regularly invited by the Ida Institute to attend their seminars. She is on one of 15 international audiologists selected to meet in Denmark to discuss and develop innovative ways of improving people's hearing health and quality of life. Her contributions have been in the design of the Ida My World Tool. This tool that helps children express their hearing difficulties in a range of environments including at home and at school and helps parents and clinicians to see a child's auditory world from their perspective. Learn about the My World tool.
In 2017 The Ida Institute filmed ethnographic videos of Bridgitte's patients. Click below to watch the video's and to learn more about the diverse range of patients that are seen at The Hearing Clinic. Bridgitte and her team are all clinical audiologists, this means that they have the training and breadth of experience to deal with all types of hearing issues. Meet Bridgitte's patients.
Bridgitte has lectured at the Ear Foundation to talk about Glue Ear and Auditory Processing Disorder in children.
In 2018, Bridgitte was named UK Audiologist of the Year, the most coveted accolade in her field.
Candice has a Bachelors degree in Speech Therapy and Audiology from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
Since relocating to the UK in 2016 she has worked in a range of settings, including with adults in private audiology practices and NHS Ear Nose & Throat Clinics, and testing children's hearing in a community setting.
Candice's professional interests include tinnitus rehabilitation. Here at The Hearing Clinic she provides specialised audiological rehabilitation to clients, enabling them to improve their hearing health, their ability to communicate fully and their relationships with friends, colleagues and loved ones.
Candice is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council and is a member of the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiology and the British Academy of Audiology.
Jan's 30 year career in the customer service field includes many years working in banking. She worked as a Secretary for NatWest in the St Neots branch before moving to the Cambridge branch to gain customer service experience. There she gained experience in dealing with customer queries, personal loans, current accounts, savings accounts and complaint handling.
When she met her husband the couple moved to Stevenage where Jan worked in the NatWest branch alongside Marion for many years. When the branch closed, she took voluntary redundancy after nearly 30 years of working for NatWest.
Marion was Bridgitte's first employee, back in 2016. As the clinic's client base was increasing, Bridgitte needed support with the administrative side. Audiology was a complete change of direction for Marion: prior to joining The Hearing Clinic, she had worked for over 30 years in retail banking.
Marion joined NatWest Bank in Letchworth straight from school and worked there for 15 years until she had her first child. She then transferred to the NatWest branch in Hitchin and on to the branch in Stevenage Old Town. When the branch closed she took voluntary redundancy.
Marion was looking forward to having some free time, but she soon got bored. "I needed a new challenge and I missed the interaction with colleagues and customers," she says. "It was then that I applied for the role as Secretary at The Hearing Clinic."
During her career at NatWest, Marion gained extensive training and experience in many areas, from business and personal finance, to customer service and administration. While audiology is a very different service, these skills have been invaluable to Marion in her role at the clinic.
Marion lives with her husband and has three adult children. A keen traveller, she also enjoys going to the theatre, long country walks and keeping fit.
Marion says, "These are exciting times. From just me and Bridgitte in 2016, we've grown to a team of five. We're looking forward to the future and continuing to help our clients to hear at their best."
Based at the Hitchin clinic, Marion is the first point of call for booking appointments and dealing with any queries which you may have.
Trisha Halai is our clinical audiologist. Trisha qualified at UCL and went on to gain excellent clinical experience at top Ear hospitals - the Royal Free Hospital and the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital. Trisha worked alongside specialists in hearing therapy, Ear Nose and Throat, and Auditory Vestibular Medicine with the aim of delivering a multidisciplinary approach in adult rehabilitation. During her time in the NHS she has diagnosed and treated patients with the most complex audiological needs and has brought a wealth of experience to her role at The Hearing Clinic.
Trisha has a Masters in Advanced Audiology at UCL.
Trisha manages our tinnitus patients and is an expert in endoscopic microsuction wax removal. Trisha is regularly invited to the local Tinnitus Support Group to talk about tinnitus management.
Trisha is a British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologist and a member of the:
British Society of Audiology
British Academy of Audiology
Health and Care Professions Council