New report reveals mounting problems in children’s audiology

One in five deaf children have their audiology appointments delayed or cancelled and a third of them miss school as a result, a new poll shows.

The figures, based on a survey of almost 1,000 parents of deaf children, were released today by the National Deaf Children’s Society alongside a new report lifting the lid on the state of children’s audiology in England.

The report reveals that more than half of audiology services don’t know how many deaf children they see and a similar number are missing the Government’s target for children’s hearing aid repairs.
It also shows that one in ten services miss the target for grommet surgery and more than two thirds have Did Not Attend rates above the NHS average.

The National Deaf Children’s Society says that if an audiology service does not know how many children are on its caseload, it is unable to plan or meet the needs of deaf children effectively. The charity is concerned that excessive waiting times and high Did Not Attend Rates could leave deaf children without the help they need, putting them at risk of falling behind at school and becoming isolated from their friends, family and classmates.

In response to the findings and the concerns raised by parents, the National Deaf Children’s Society is calling for the introduction of basic standards for data collection. The charity also wants NHS England, healthcare commissioners and audiology services to work together to quickly address the problems outlined in this report.

Susan Daniels, Chief Executive of the National Deaf Children’s Society, said “This report shows that England’s 45,000 deaf children now find themselves thrown into a postcode lottery for the support they need at a critical time in their development.

“Deaf children rely on their audiologist to test their hearing and balance, fit their hearing aids and enable them to communicate, but if a service doesn’t even know how many children it sees, it cannot expect to plan effectively or come close to meeting their needs.

“Every time a target is missed or an appointment is delayed, a deaf child faces more frustration and more days of isolation at home, in class and in the playground. Deaf children already fall behind at school and this is one more barrier for them to overcome.”

“Audiologists are doing an incredibly important job under testing circumstances, but clearly they need more support. NHS England, healthcare commissioners and audiology services must now come together, look at the evidence and work out how exactly how to fix this fractured system before more deaf children are let down.”