By Claire Meadows, Practice Manager, Meadows & Wood Hearing Care
I never planned to work in audiology. If you’d told me ten years ago that I’d be helping people hear again for a living, I’d have laughed. But here I am, and I can honestly say it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.
My working life started the only way it ever really could: looking after children. My first job was as a nanny, and from there I went on to childminding, teaching assistant work, and supporting children with special needs through school. At one point I even fostered three young brothers who needed somewhere safe to stay at short notice. The plan was one night. They stayed six months. I wasn’t going to let them be split up.
People have always been my thing. Not in a grand, career-plan sort of way. It’s just that I notice when someone needs a bit of support, and I want to help. That instinct has been the thread running through everything I’ve done.
So how did I end up at Meadows & Wood? When Toby and I got married in December 2019, he was already an experienced audiologist. In the early days of the practice, I’d sit in clinic with him at Portishead, taking notes, managing appointments, and I watched what happened when someone walked out able to hear properly again. Their whole posture changed. Their face changed. It was impossible not to be moved by it.
When the practice got busy enough that Toby needed another pair of hands, I said: what about me? I trained through Starkey over four months, travelling up to their English headquarters in Stockport once a month for assessments and doing my clinical practice back here in the clinic. Toby signed me off as I went. It was a serious commitment, but the moment I did my first successful earwax removal and saw someone relax into their chair, I knew it had been worth every bit of it.
I now handle hearing screenings, full hearing assessments, earwax removal by microsuction and irrigation, ear health checks, and the servicing and repairs of hearing aids. I’m not an audiologist. That’s Toby’s specialism. But I do a great deal of the day-to-day clinical work that means our patients are seen quickly and looked after properly. When someone pops in because their hearing aid needs a new tube, they don’t have to wait for an appointment with Toby. I can often sort it at the desk.
The thing that keeps me doing it is the same thing that kept me going through all those years of working with children: the difference it makes. One lady told us that having her husband’s hearing sorted meant she felt like she’d got him back. He’d retreated into silence so gradually that neither of them had quite noticed, and then suddenly he was talking and laughing again. That’s the kind of outcome that stays with you.
Meadows & Wood is a small, independent practice. We know our patients by name. We know their history. There’s no conveyor belt, no corporate script. Just Toby, me, and our small team, doing our best for the people who come through our door. I think that matters more than people sometimes realise, especially when you’re dealing with something as personal as your hearing.
I’d never have predicted this would be my path. But I’m glad it is.
If you would like an appointment with Claire or one of our team, you can book online or by calling the clinic. We look forward to meeting you.
