How children may have been affected by the NHS audiology scandal

The Sunday Times has recently reported on leaked documents from NHS England that suggest that 1,540 children have had their hearing problems missed or misdiagnosed by NHS audiology units since 2019.  

Some children were given the all-clear when they had significant problems. Other children were diagnosed as being deaf when hearing aids could have assisted them.

This widespread concern was previously highlighted by the British Academy of Audiology in its review into NHS Lothian Paediatric Audiology in December 2021. This review highlighted serious shortcomings in patient care in paediatric audiology services due to a lack of national oversight, no mandatory quality assurance and workforce issues.  

The impact of hearing issues or impairment on infants

According to NHS statistics, one to two babies in every 1,000 are born with permanent hearing loss in one or both ears. This increases to around one in every 100 babies who have spent more than 48 hours in intensive care.

Hearing is critical to the development of an infant’s speech, language, communication and learning. Permanent hearing loss can significantly affect a baby’s development as a whole. 

These language and communication difficulties can lead to learning problems and social isolation. It is therefore vital that any hearing issues or impairments are identified early so that they can be treated with hearing aids or cochlear implants promptly, in order to give the child the best chance at developing.

Newborn hearing screening

Due to the importance of hearing on children’s development, the NHS launched its newborn hearing screening programme for all newborn babies in 2001. If a baby fails the screening test, they are referred to hospitals for further investigations to identify the future treatment needed. 

Systemic issues identified by the NHS England’s newborn hearing screening programme 

An analysis of every baby born in England from 2018 to 2023 revealed issues within the newborn hearing screening programme. These included poor-quality practices, inadequate staff training, sub-standard data and report management, inconsistencies in care, ineffective peer review process and a lack of UK Accreditation Service (UKAS).

The report found that the issues were systemic rather than isolated due to the widespread nature of the non-compliance of the screening programme. Despite this report, it is only recently that NHS England have ordered all hospitals to carry out an urgent review of their services.

NHS trusts are now attempting to trace thousands of children for urgent hearing tests amid fears that cases of infant deafness may have been missed for many years, dating back to 2012. For many families, though, this will be too little too late, and unfortunately the developmental damage may have already been done.

Five NHS hospitals in England have been named as failing to carry out appropriate audiology tests. These hospitals include Lister Hospital, Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Scunthorpe General Hospital, Hinchingbrooke Hospital and Warrington Hospital.

Croydon University Hospital and Worcestershire Hospital – which have not been named as failing - have also launched child patient recalls.

Looking forward, the NHS will have to seriously consider the steps to be taken to prevent anything like this happening again. In the meantime, individual trusts will have to work hard to restore parents’ faith in the system.

Maria Panteli said:

“Such widespread failings of audiology services are deeply concerning, leading to a detrimental impact on a child’s development, speech and language, education and social interaction. Like many other NHS services, audiology has been neglected and it is crucial that action is taken to make sure this does not happen again.”

How to identify hearing issues in your infant

Often it is difficult to spot hearing problems in small babies, hence the importance of the newborn hearing screening programme. However, you may be able to pick up on possible signs such as your infant: 

• Not being startled by loud sounds. 
• Not turning towards a sound after six months old. 
• Not saying single words like ‘mama’ or ‘dada’ by the time they are one year old.

If you are concerned about your child’s hearing, your GP can arrange a hearing test for them.

How we can help