Babies miss out on hearing tests

9:20am Saturday 29th November 2008

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Nearly half of all newborn babies were overlooked by the area’s hearing screening programme last year.

West Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) has blamed a staff shortage for the poorest performance in the East of England region — it tested just 54 per cent of babies under one month old between April last year and this year, even though the Government’s target is 98 per cent.

A PCT spokeswoman said: “We have improved our systems and recruited more staff which has led to more children being screened.”

The statistics were released last Thursday by the NHS Newborn Hearing Screening Programme in a report that assessed the performance of newborn hearing screening services against 26 standards set by the national programme. The standards cover newborn hearing screening audiology, medical and early intervention services.

Sara Bierton, NDCS East England regional director, said: “The PCT should offer all parents the opportunity to have a screening. It is up to the family to decide whether they want it.

“The NHS must take action to ensure all newborn babies benefit from screening and the appropriate after-care.

“Every programme should be working towards this model, to ensure that no deaf babies and their families are being let down.”

“Where standards and targets are not being met, NDCS is calling for every primary care trust (PCT) and hospital trust chief executive to commit to improving the performance of their programme.”

The PCT spokeswoman said since the data for the report was compiled, the service in West Hertfordshire has dramatically improved. She added: “Over the summer in West Hertfordshire, where the PCT directly provides hearing screening, we averaged more than 95 per cent of all babies being tested within the nationally agreed times.”

In the past, babies would have been screened at Peace Children’s Centre in Watford. If a test showed any need for further investigation, they would be referred to the audiology team at Watford General Hospital. All babies born now will be offered a test at the new Borehamwood and Elstree Children’s Centre.

Parents with concerns about their child’s hearing can contact the NDCS freephone helpline on 0808 800 8880 or email helpline@ndcs.org.uk or see ndcs.org.uk