A hearing assistance system (100, 400), comprising: a host device (102, 202, 402) configured to be a master device of a network and including a master control circuit (103, 203); a plurality of hearing assistance devices (104A-N, 304, 404L, 404R, 504L, 504R) each configured to be a slave device of the network and including a slave control circuit (105A-N, 305); one or more first wireless communication links (112, 412L, 412R) each configured to communicatively couple a hearing assistance device (104A-N, 304, 404L, 404R, 504L, 504R) of the plurality of hearing assistance devices to the host device (102, 202, 402) in the network using a Bluetooth protocol; one or more second wireless communication links (122, 422LR) each configured to communicatively couple a hearing assistance device (104A-N, 304, 404L, 404R, 504L, 504R) of the plurality of hearing assistance devices to another hearing assistance device (104A-N, 304, 404L, 404R, 504L, 504R) of the plurality of hearing assistance devices; and characterised in that it comprises a network control system including the master control circuit (103, 203) and the slave control circuits (105A-N, 305), the network control system configured to assign one or more first time slots for the communication over each first link (112, 412L, 412R) of the one or more first wireless communication links within a Bluetooth connection interval and one or more second time slots for the communication over each second link (122, 422LR) of the one or more second wireless communication links within the Bluetooth connection interval, the first and second time slots non-overlapping in time. a host device (102, 202, 402) configured to be a master device of a network and including a master control circuit (103, 203); a plurality of hearing assistance devices (104A-N, 304, 404L, 404R, 504L, 504R) each configured to be a slave device of the network and including a slave control circuit (105A-N, 305); one or more first wireless communication links (112, 412L, 412R) each configured to communicatively couple a hearing assistance device (104A-N, 304, 404L, 404R, 504L, 504R) of the plurality of hearing assistance devices to the host device (102, 202, 402) in the network using a Bluetooth protocol; one or more second wireless communication links (122, 422LR) each configured to communicatively couple a hearing assistance device (104A-N, 304, 404L, 404R, 504L, 504R) of the plurality of hearing assistance devices to another hearing assistance device (104A-N, 304, 404L, 404R, 504L, 504R) of the plurality of hearing assistance devices; and characterised in that it comprises a network control system including the master control circuit (103, 203) and the slave control circuits (105A-N, 305), the network control system configured to assign one or more first time slots for the communication over each first link (112, 412L, 412R) of the one or more first wireless communication links within a Bluetooth connection interval and one or more second time slots for the communication over each second link (122, 422LR) of the one or more second wireless communication links within the Bluetooth connection interval, the first and second time slots non-overlapping in time.