Nicola Phillips is a Consultant Clinical Scientist in Audiology at Sancta Maria Hospital, Swansea, registered with both the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and the Healthcare Science and Engineering Register (HSSE). She holds Fellowship of the Academy of Healthcare Science (FAHCS), the highest level of professional registration in the healthcare science field, awarded through the Higher Specialist Scientist Equivalence Programme in 2025.

Nicola is one of the most senior audiologists practising privately in Wales, combining over 25 years of NHS audiology experience with a national profile as an advocate for the profession and a recognised leader in audiology service development.

Services Offered at Sancta Maria Hospital

• Adult hearing assessments
• Tinnitus assessment and management
• Balance disorder assessment
• Ear wax removal using micro-suction
• Complex ear wax removal (ears that have had previous surgery or complex abnormalities)
• Otoscopy and ear examination

Complex Ear Care

Nicola has a specialist interest in otoscopy and ear care of complex ears, including patients whose ears have had previous surgery or have abnormalities that make standard wax removal difficult or risky. This specialist service is particularly valuable for patients who have been unable to access routine wax removal safely elsewhere.

National Leadership and Advocacy

Nicola leads the primary care audiology service at Swansea Bay University Health Board and has a wide-ranging national role, having met with Cabinet Ministers, Government Advisors and Chief Executives to promote and develop audiology services in Wales. She regularly delivers talks and presentations at national level, has been a lead auditor at national level, and has been instrumental in setting up standard operating procedures, pathways and outcome measures for new audiology services.

Her primary care audiology team at Swansea Bay was awarded British Academy of Audiology Team of the Year 2021, recognised for its innovation in delivering community-based specialist audiology services that reduce patient waiting times and GP workload.

Qualifications and Training

Nicola began her audiology career in 1998, training at Swansea University, Neath General Hospital and Birmingham Teaching Hospital. She qualified as an Audiologist in 2002 and has since built an exceptional portfolio of qualifications including a Master’s Degree in Advanced Clinical Practice (2010), completion of the Clinical Scientist Training Programme portfolio, registration as a Clinical Scientist (2021) and Consultant Clinical Scientist registration through the Higher Specialist Scientist Equivalence Programme (2025).