Home hearing tests for people who are housebound or have limited mobility
Yes. A full hearing test can be carried out at home for someone who is housebound or finds it hard to get about, and in most of England that visit will be private rather than NHS-funded. Some NHS audiology departments do visit, but usually only people who cannot leave the house at all, only after a GP referral, and often with a longer wait. HomeSight's HCPC-registered audiologists carry out full hearing tests at home across London, the South East and the South Midlands, with no GP referral needed. Screening costs nothing, and a full assessment is £30.
This guide is for anyone weighing that up, whether the test is for you, a parent or someone you care for. It covers what the NHS offers, what a home visit actually asks of the house and the person, how it compares with a clinic, and how to tell a good home hearing service from one that will not suit someone who rarely leaves their chair.
The short answer
- Home hearing tests exist, and a proper one is a full assessment rather than a quick screen.
- NHS audiology home visits are offered in some areas, typically for people who are housebound or bedbound, through a GP referral. What is available depends on your local trust.
- Private home hearing care needs no referral. With HomeSight, the screening costs nothing, a full assessment is £30 (refunded against any HomeSight hearing aids), earwax removal is £80 and a service visit for hearing aids bought elsewhere is £45.
- The appointment can usually be adapted for someone in bed, in a wheelchair or living with dementia. Say so when you book.
- Hearing that drops suddenly is urgent. Contact NHS 111 or the GP the same day instead of booking a routine visit.
Are there home visit hearing tests for people with limited mobility?
There are two routes, and it helps to know both before you pick up the phone.
The NHS route
NHS hearing tests are free. The usual way in is through your GP, who refers you to an audiologist, and the test normally takes place at a hospital or clinic (NHS, Hearing tests). Some NHS audiology departments will come out to patients who genuinely cannot travel. University Hospitals Sussex, for example, offers home visits from its Worthing service to people who are housebound, asks new patients to get a GP referral first, and warns that high demand can mean a longer wait (UH Sussex, Audiology home visits). Leeds Teaching Hospitals says it cannot offer a standard home service, but will visit people who are terminally ill, housebound or bed bound when their GP refers them (Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Home visit information). Both ask for the ears to be clear of wax before the visit.
So an NHS home hearing test may well be possible where you live. It depends on your local trust, it is usually kept for people who cannot get out at all, and it starts with the GP. If your parent fits that description and can wait, ask the surgery about it. It costs nothing.
The private route
Private home hearing care is open to anyone who finds a clinic hard to reach, whatever the reason: a stroke, arthritis, breathlessness, frailty, a wheelchair, dementia, or a journey that leaves them worn out for the rest of the day. There is no referral and no eligibility test to pass. HomeSight is one such service. An HCPC-registered audiologist visits at home, including people who are housebound and people with limited mobility, and brings portable clinical equipment with them. HomeSight's hearing care is private only, so it does not provide NHS hearing tests or NHS hearing aids.
The need is large on both sides. RNID estimates that more than 18 million people in the UK, one in three, are deaf, have hearing loss or have tinnitus, and that nearly four in five people aged over 70 will be affected (RNID, Prevalence of deafness and hearing loss). The NHS is stretched as well. At the end of July 2026, 124,667 people in England were on the waiting list for an NHS audiology assessment, and 41.5% of them had been waiting six weeks or more (NHS England, Diagnostic Waiting Times and Activity, July 2026). None of that makes the NHS route the wrong one. It is why a private route exists for people who cannot travel, or cannot wait.
What a home hearing test needs from the house, and from the person
Families often worry that a parent who rarely leaves the house is too frail for a proper hearing test. In practice the test asks very little of the body. The person needs to be awake, reasonably comfortable, able to wear headphones and able to show when they hear a sound, whether by pressing a button or raising a hand.
Space
Only enough for the audiologist to sit close by with their portable equipment. The kitchen table, a small table beside an armchair or the top of a bedside cabinet will do. Nobody has to be moved to a different room for the sake of the test.
In a chair or in bed
The test can take place in whatever chair the person normally uses, a wheelchair or a riser recliner included. HomeSight adapts the appointment for someone who is bed bound, so mention it when you book and the audiologist will arrive knowing what to expect. In care homes, HomeSight sees residents in their own room or at the bedside.
Quiet
Quiet matters more than space. A hearing test looks for the softest sounds a person can pick up, so a television in the next room or traffic through an open window can make the result less dependable. The quietest room in the house is the right one, even if it is not the tidiest.
Time
Allow about 90 minutes for a full HomeSight assessment. It starts with a conversation, then a look inside both ears (otoscopy), pure-tone audiometry (tones through headphones), speech-in-noise testing, and tympanometry, in which a soft probe checks the eardrum's movement. It ends with the results explained in plain English. The audiologist works at the person's pace.
Earwax
A plug of wax is enough by itself to pull a hearing result down, and some NHS home services ask for it to be cleared before they will visit. For someone who cannot get to a surgery, that is a hurdle in itself, and the NHS notes that not every GP surgery removes earwax (NHS, Earwax build-up). A HomeSight audiologist can remove it at the same visit for £80, using microsuction, irrigation or fine instruments depending on what suits the ear, and then carry on with the hearing test.
Home or clinic: how they compare
| NHS clinic | NHS home visit, where offered | HomeSight private home visit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it suits | Anyone who can travel | Usually people who are housebound or bedbound; each trust sets its own criteria | Anyone in the coverage area who finds a clinic difficult |
| How to arrange it | GP referral | GP referral | Phone or online form, no referral |
| Cost of the test | Free | Free | Screening free; full assessment £30, refunded against HomeSight hearing aids |
| Waiting | Varies; 41.5% of those waiting in England had waited six weeks or more (July 2026) | Can be longer than for the clinic, because home slots are limited | Usually within two weeks of your call |
| Earwax | Not every GP surgery removes it | Usually has to be cleared before the visit | Removed at the same visit if needed, £80 |
| Hearing aids | Free on long-term loan, with free batteries and repairs | Free on long-term loan, fitted at a further visit | Bought privately, with a 60-day money-back trial, and fitted at home |
| Family present | Ask the clinic | Ask the service | Welcome at every visit |
For most people a quiet room at home gives the audiologist everything they need. A clinic may still be the better choice for someone who travels comfortably and is content to wait for the free NHS route. And if anything the audiologist finds points to a medical problem rather than a hearing one, they will tell you and suggest seeing the GP.
Getting the room ready: a checklist
- Choose the quietest room. Away from the road, the washing machine and the kitchen radio.
- Switch things off. Television, radio, and anything that hums or ticks loudly. Close the window if it faces traffic.
- Put the hearing aids out, if there are any, with the charger or spare batteries, so the audiologist can look at them too.
- Find the paperwork. Any NHS letters, earlier hearing test results and a list of current medicines.
- Note any ear history. Past ear surgery, a perforated eardrum, infections or discharge. The audiologist will ask, and it can change how wax is removed.
- Glasses on, if they are worn, so the person can see the audiologist's face and read anything written down.
- Pull up a chair for yourself if you plan to sit in.
What a relative can do
Most people who book a HomeSight hearing visit are booking for someone else: a son, daughter, spouse, carer or care home manager. No power of attorney is needed to make the booking. The appointment can go under your phone number, and you are welcome to sit in and hear the findings yourself. Two people at the same address, such as a couple, can be booked into one visit.
Before anything starts, the audiologist speaks to your parent and checks that they are happy to go ahead. Decisions about hearing aids stay with them for as long as they have the capacity to make them. Where they do not, the audiologist works with the attorney, a deputy appointed by the court, or the care team, as the Mental Capacity Act requires. If an attorney is in place, mention it when you book.
It also helps to tell the coordinator:
- whether your parent will be in bed, in an armchair or in a wheelchair
- whether they have dementia, memory problems or difficulty speaking
- which ear seems worse, and when you first noticed a change
- whether they already have hearing aids, and where they came from
- anything the audiologist needs to get in: a key safe, stairs, or times when a carer is there
Hearing aids when hands, eyesight or memory make them harder
A hearing aid only helps if it is worn, and for someone with arthritis, a tremor, poor sight or a failing memory, the small fiddly parts are often what defeat it. These are the things HomeSight offers that make daily use more manageable:
- Rechargeable aids. Every HomeSight package is rechargeable, so there are no tiny batteries to change.
- Family and carers shown how. At the fitting, the audiologist shows the wearer and anyone who helps them how to put the aids in, charge them and clean them.
- Follow-ups at home. Return visits two weeks and six weeks after the fitting to adjust the settings, and more aftercare after that, included in every package.
- A trial. You have 60 days to change your mind. Send the aids back within that time and the money is refunded in full, apart from a £50 fitting fee.
- Help with aids bought elsewhere. A £45 home service visit covers most major brands. If the aids came from the NHS, the department that issued them repairs them free of charge, so start there. A HomeSight audiologist can clean an NHS aid and troubleshoot it, but cannot reprogram it.
Dementia is not a reason to skip the test. NICE advises that adults living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment, whether diagnosed or only suspected, should be considered for a hearing assessment, because hearing loss often sits alongside it (NICE NG98, Hearing loss in adults). HomeSight audiologists test people living with dementia routinely and shape the appointment around what the person can manage. What they will not do is promise that every aid will be worn. They will talk to you plainly about what is realistic for your parent. There is more on this in our article on hearing loss and dementia.
Which home hearing care providers are good for housebound older people?
We are one of them, so read what follows as a checklist rather than a recommendation, and hold us to it too. A home hearing service that suits someone who rarely leaves the house should be able to say yes to most of these questions.
- Is the clinician HCPC-registered? The Health and Care Professions Council regulates hearing aid dispensing. Ask for the clinician's name and look it up on the HCPC register.
- Does every stage happen at home? Assessment, wax removal, fitting, follow-ups and repairs. If any step needs a trip to a shop, it will not work for someone who cannot travel.
- Can wax be removed at the same visit? Otherwise the test may have to wait for a separate appointment.
- Are prices clear before anyone arrives? Including whether the test fee is refunded and whether there is a call-out charge.
- Is there a trial with written refund terms?
- Are family welcome, and is the clinician used to dementia and bed-bound patients?
- Will they tell you if hearing is normal? A good service will say so and leave it there.
- Do they cover the address, and how soon can they come?
Here is how HomeSight answers. Every visit is carried out by an HCPC-registered audiologist. The assessment, wax removal, fitting, follow-ups and servicing all take place at home. Prices are published, there is no call-out fee, and the £30 assessment is refunded against HomeSight hearing aids. Hearing aids come with a 60-day money-back trial. Family members are welcome at every visit. Roughly one first-time assessment in six shows hearing that is normal for the person's age. You are told so plainly, and the audiogram stays with you as a baseline. HomeSight covers Greater London, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire and the South Midlands, works with over 300 care homes across the South East, and usually visits within two weeks of your first call. Check the areas HomeSight visits or ring with the postcode.
When it is not a routine visit
The NHS says to ask for an urgent GP appointment or contact NHS 111 if hearing is lost suddenly in one or both ears, has been getting worse over a few days or weeks, or comes with earache or discharge. NICE sets the bar precisely: hearing that dropped over three days or less, at any point in the past 30 days, needs a specialist review within 24 hours by an ear, nose and throat team or an emergency department. A loss that came on suddenly longer ago than that is urgent rather than emergency, and should be seen within two weeks.
If hearing loss comes with a drooping face, weakness in an arm or slurred speech, treat it as a possible stroke and call 999.
HomeSight is a routine home service, not an emergency one.
What HomeSight charges
- Hearing screening at home: free, no obligation.
- Full hearing assessment at home: £30 for about 90 minutes, refunded against HomeSight hearing aids.
- Earwax removal at home: £80 per visit, both ears examined, usually by microsuction.
- Hearing aids fitted at home: from £1,147 a pair, fitting and aftercare included, with a 60-day money-back trial (less a £50 fitting fee). Full packages are on the hearing aids at home page.
- Service visit for hearing aids bought elsewhere: £45. See hearing aid help and repairs at home.
- Call-out fee: none.
A full hearing test, in the chair they already sit in.
An HCPC-registered audiologist visits at home. Free screening, no GP referral, and family welcome.
For a step-by-step account of the visit itself, read what happens at a home hearing test. If you are arranging this for a parent, our page for families and carers booking on someone's behalf sets out what we need from you, and home hearing care with HomeSight has the full service detail.
Frequently asked questions
Are there home visit hearing tests for people with limited mobility?
Yes. Some NHS audiology departments visit people who are housebound or bedbound after a GP referral, though what is offered varies by area and waits can be long. Private home hearing tests need no referral. HomeSight's HCPC-registered audiologists carry out full hearing tests at home across London, the South East and the South Midlands, with free screening and a £30 full assessment.
Will the NHS visit a housebound person at home for a hearing test?
Sometimes. Certain NHS trusts run audiology home visits, usually only for people who are terminally ill or cannot leave their home or bed, and the GP has to refer them. Some also ask for the ears to be cleared of wax before they come. It is not available everywhere, so ask the GP what your local service offers.
Which home hearing care providers are good for housebound seniors?
Look for a service with HCPC-registered clinicians, where every stage from the test to the fitting and repairs happens at home, wax can be removed at the same visit, prices are clear, and a trial period is offered. HomeSight meets each of these across London, the South East and the South Midlands, and works with over 300 care homes. Your GP can also tell you whether your local NHS audiology service visits at home.
Can a hearing test be done if someone is bed bound?
Usually, yes. The person needs to be awake, able to wear headphones and able to signal when they hear a sound. HomeSight adapts the appointment for people who are bed bound. Tell the coordinator when you book, and keep the room as quiet as you can.
Can I book a home hearing test for my mum or dad?
Yes, and most HomeSight bookings are made this way. No power of attorney is needed. Put your own phone number down as the contact, and be there on the day if you can. The audiologist checks with your parent that they are happy to go ahead before starting.
Is a home hearing test as reliable as one in a clinic?
For most people, yes, provided the room is quiet. The audiologist uses calibrated portable equipment and carries out the same core tests, including pure-tone audiometry, otoscopy, tympanometry and speech-in-noise testing. If the results point to something a doctor should look at, they will tell you.
About HomeSight. HomeSight provides private hearing care at home, with HCPC-registered audiologists visiting homes and over 300 care homes across London, the South East and the South Midlands. No GP referral is needed. Call 0800 080 6095, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, or book a home visit online.