ENT and Audiology clinic and Speech therapy centre

Introduction

The planning and design of ear, nose and throat (ENT) and audiology clinics, and
hearing aid centres is inter-dependent. These are usually located in general out-patient
departments (OPD) of Hospitals, but could be located elsewhere too.
ENT and audiology cover all treatment for ear, nose and throat conditions.
Historically, all aspects of specialist care for people with ear, nose and throat
conditions have come within ENT services, with audiology departments providing
support in diagnosis and rehabilitation.
Speech therapy is also associated with the ENT clinic, providing specialised
examination, visualisation and analysis of vocal function and speech rehabilitation.

General service consideration

The main functions of ENT and audiology clinics are:

specialist consultation, examination and treatment in respect of diseases and disorders

of the ear, nose and throat that do not require in-patient activity;
assessment and treatment of balance disorders and deafness;
following up and monitoring the condition of patients who have received in-patient
treatment;

Factors affecting the size of a service

One of the principal factors affecting the size of an ENT service is the number of consultants
in a particular locality. The recommendation by the British Association of Otolaryngologists
in 1993(3) for a rate of one consultant per 80,000 population, would indicate a minimum
viable ENT department size of three consultants providing a service to a population of a
quarter of a million.
Exam room capacity calculation is based on the following formula / parameters:

*Average Length of Encounter (ALOE): In these space criteria, an Encounter is defined as

a face-to-face professional contact between a patient and a consultant vested with
responsibility for diagnosing, evaluating, and treating the patients condition. The Length of
Encounter is the time between set-up and clean-up of the Exam Room. The Average Length
of Encounter is used to capture variations in Length of Encounter among similar clinical
encounters that will take place in an Exam Room.