MSPs Debate Children's Hearing Screening at Holyrood
As a result of a NDCS Scotland briefing paper, MSPs have debated issues related to the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening programme in the Scottish Parliament.
On Thursday 14th May, the Scottish Parliament debated the RNID Hearing Matters campaign, which calls for routine hearing screening to be introduced for over 55s.
NDCS Scotland briefed MSPs ahead of this debate on issues relating to children’s hearing screening – namely that there is to date no national data available on the number of children diagnosed with a hearing loss via Universal Newborn Hearing Screening since it was introduced in Scotland in 2005; that there is no national framework for early years support post diagnosis, resulting in local variation in the quality of service provided; and that with the introduction of UNHS, school entry hearing screening tests have all but ended, meaning that there may be an issue with early diagnosis of acquired childhood deafness.
MSPs responded very well to the NDCS briefing, with the needs of deaf children, the lack of data, and the loss of school entry hearing screening being mentioned by most of the speakers.
As one MSP said during the debate: "It is vital that deaf children are given every opportunity to succeed and to become confident individuals and responsible citizens who can make an effective contribution to society. They should not be neglected or stigmatised; they should be given the same opportunities as other children in Scotland." NDCS couldn't agree more!
NDCS Scotland is continuing to lobby the Minister for Public Health in Scotland to create a national register of deaf children to assist with the future planning of service provision in health, education and social care.
More information:
Contact: scotland.campaigns@ndcs.org.uk
