Tracy James MSc CAC RHAD

Director and Owner of Tracy James Audiology Services

A Message From Tracy

Thank you for considering Tracy James Hearing. As the Owner and Director, I’m proud of the culture of kindness and care within our team, and the clinical excellence we provide.

I decided to run an independent audiology service for many reasons. The main one being that I really wanted to have that continuity with clients. When fitting hearing aids and managing client’s needs, it’s important to see the same Audiologist each time; it gives you the best care. We have known many of our clients for years, and our relationship with them is important. We like to take the time to really get to know and understand our clients to enable us to provide personalised considered care for their ears and hearing.

“When fitting hearing aids and managing individuals’ needs, it’s important to see the same Audiologist each time; it gives you the best care”

The difference between operating within the private sector compared to the NHS, is that we can offer a choice of hearing aids to suit the individual. As an independent, we’re not tied into or limited to certain contracts with manufacturers. Many high street hearing care chains, and some larger Audiology Franchises are tied to contracts with (or even owned by) specific manufacturers. At Tracy James Hearing we choose hearing aids depending on your needs. Our aim is a personalised service of hearing care; we offer home visits to those who can’t leave the house easily, longer appointments where necessary and medical advice for ear health alongside hearing aid care.

First and foremost, we’re audiologists. We are not from sales backgrounds and our focus is on doing what’s right for the individual. Many people that come to us have already tried the NHS and for whatever reason this route did not worked for them. Other people have tried high street hearing care and not had the after care or quality of provision that they expected. We will always be honest regarding expectations of hearing benefit from hearing aids, considering the hearing loss, dexterity, the health, size and shape of your ears and other factors.

To complement our services, we provide ear wax removal via microsuction or irrigation. If you have hearing aids that you’ve purchased from me and are in warranty – this service is provided for free. In addition, we offer same-day repairs (most repairs can be repaired on-site) and 6-monthly clean and checks as part of our service. Our 5-year warranty for the hearing aids gives you the confidence that will support you and your hearing aids for that period and beyond

One of my most proudest achievements when setting up Tracy James Hearing is the inclusion of appropriate facilities for testing children’s hearing (age 6 months and upwards) at our Newbury clinic. This is quite rare for a private provider, due to the skills, equipment and qualifications required. It’s also been clear since starting out, that there is a need for assessment of children by alternative providers, as well as providing alternative options for hearing aids in children.  To find out more information, visit the children page on our website.

Do get in touch with us at any time to ask us questions or find out more about our services online or by emailing us at admin@tjhearing.co.uk. If you’d like to meet an Audiologist to consider what we offer and our hearing aids, we provide free 30 minute consultations. All questions are welcome, and we’ll do our best to serve you in the best possible way we can.

I have over 25 years experience in Audiology as a clinician, lecturer and trainer. My clinical experience includes audiovestibular assessment and (re)habilitation of adult and paediatrics, from routine to complex cases. With a specific interest in paediatric audiology and auditory processing disorders.

Tracy is a member of the British Society of Audiology, British Academy of Audiology and is HCPC registered. She is also a teaching fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

TRACY JAMES CHRONOLOGY

Tracy grew up in the North East of England (Chester-le-street, Co. Durham) and left home to study at 18 years of age at the University of Aberystwyth, completing a degree in Genetics and going onto work in a research facility examining the genome and detection of complex gut bacteria. Tracy decided that laboratory work was not for her and looked for a long-term profession. She decided on Audiology as a mixture of Science and working closely with people within the National Health Service.

As such, she went on to complete her Master’s degree in Audiology at Southampton and completed her clinical training the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. She remained there for 5 years and achieved registration as a Clinical Scientist in Audiology. In this role, Tracy developed specialisms in paediatrics, vestibular assessment and had a pivotal role in service development and training.

In 2008 she moved to Newbury and worked at Mary Hare School of the Deaf as the Course Leader for the MSc in Educational Audiology and paediatric audiologist. In this role, Tracy trained Teachers of the Deaf in Audiology specialisms while considering their needs for Education, and developed courses for non-Audiologists.  In addition, Tracy assessed children with hearing impairment in the case of tribunal for suitable Educational Placements. She also worked occasionally at the hearing centre seeing adult clients with private hearing aids. In Newbury she met and married her husband and settled in the area.

In 2012, Tracy worked as the Paediatric Audiology Service Lead for the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford (3 days a week), alongside her role at Mary Hare. Eventually, she dropped the Mary Hare role and started her own Audiology training business – TJ Audiology Training on 2 days a week. This started as a series of BSA (British Society of Audiology) accredited training courses for individuals (e.g. GPs and nurses) who needed audiological skills such as impression-taking and hearing tests.

In 2014 Tracy committed to self-employment full-time and ran the training business while developing the hearing business at the same time. This started with testing infant’s and children’s hearing privately and eventually Tracy started dispensing private hearing aids for those children who were unable to get on with their NHS aids. This business grew gradually (mainly by word of mouth) as Tracy opened a hearing clinic for adults from a room her own home in 2019, while renting out the facilities for children elsewhere. In 2022 TJ Audiology Training included Louise Hart as a joint director (who now runs this full-time), while Tracy ran Tracy James Hearing full-time, at home and at 2 other satellite clinics in Newbury and Thatcham.

In 2024 Tracy moved the Tracy James Hearing premises from her home office to Tracy James Hearing in Wharf Street, Newbury Town Centre. Fast forward to 2026 and Tracy James Hearing now looks after over 150 hearing aid clients and counting, and over 2500 clients have received Tracy James Hearing’s personalised hearing care service. Tracy continues to test and support adults and children with their hearing health, hearing loss and hearing aids in the Berkshire and Hampshire area alongside her team, Audiologists Louise Hart and Sandra de Jesus and Gemma Taylor our hearing administrator. 

Qualifications:

2001 – BSc in Genetics, University of Wales Aberystwyth

2003 – MSc in Audiology, Southampton and Best Dissertation Prize for Human Sciences

2005 – Certificate in Audiological Competence (Paediatric Audiology, Vestibular Assessment and Rehabilitation and Adult Hearing Care)

2005 – British Sign Language Level 1

2006 – Registration Completed as a Clinical Scientist in Audiology (Health and Care Professionals Council and Association of Clinical Scientists)

2008 - Registration Completed as a Hearing Aid Dispenser (Health and Care Professionals Council)

Professional Bodies and Organisations:

Full member of the British Society of Audiology (BSA)

Full member of the British Academy of Audiology

Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC) Registered Hearing Aid Dispenser

HCPC Registered Clinical Scientist

Interests and Publications:

IQUIPs Assessor in Audiology. United Kingdom Accreditation Service, Surrey. Visiting assessor for paediatric audiology services undergoing accreditation by UKAS

BSA Paediatric Audiology Special Interest Group Member.

BSA Auditory Processing Disorder Special Interest Group Member

2010 – 2015 – Member of the British Society of Audiology Professional Practice Committee. Development of national protocols and practice guidance for the British Society of Audiology. Lead author and consultation for BSA protocols in paediatric impression-taking and visual reinforcement audiometry.

Draper THJ, Munro KJ, Van Dun B and Dillon H (2010).The use of speech stimuli to elicit aided cortical auditory evoked potentials in teenagers with hearing impairment: performance characteristics, subject considerations and clinical relevance. Poster Presentation, BSA 2010

Draper THJ, Bamiou D-E (2006). Auditory Neuropathy in a Patient Exposed to Xylene: A Case Study. Journal Of Otolaryngology