The roll out of a new neonatal hearing service for babies and young people in the southeast has been welcomed by the Labour Party this week.
Deputy Ann Phelan said that following a recent briefing with the HSE South, she was delighted to hear that hearing technology screening for babies and young children is to be introduced in the southeast.
The roll-out of the new regional service structure which currently is available in Waterford Regional Hospital will soon cover the young population of Kilkenny. It is hoped the service will be up and running in St Luke’s Hospital by March this year.
Deputy Phelan said: “Detection of partial or total loss of hearing in the first four months of a child's life is important. This will now be treated by a modern, non-invasive, and simple test for newborn babies. It has been contracted to UK company Northgate Public Services and is in operation in Waterford Regional Hospital since November 2011.
“This company has an established record as part of a similar programme for infant and adult screening in the UK.”
Undetected hearing impairment in infants may disrupt the process of communication and normal language acquisition, leading to long-term consequences for a child in terms of educational achievement.
A regional implementation team was established in the south-east to oversee the provision of services for the four maternity units in the region, including St Luke's Kilkenny and Ardkeen Hospitals - each providing hearing screening by trained staff for newborns.
The team will also establish an audiology diagnostic service manned by two scientists employed in Waterford Regional Hospital providing ear, nose, and throat (ENT ) speciality services there, and a community care referral service to which patients’ audiology needs are channelled through the collaborative working relationships developed between staff in the acute and community services, in line with recommendations set out in the National Audiology Review Group Report, will also be established.
Deputy Phelan said that more than 4,500 babies were born in the combined Kilkenny/Waterford hospitals last year. The current average age of detected hearing loss in babies in Ireland is 30 months. From the implementation of the new neonatal screening of all infants in the early weeks of life, it is planned to bring down this average-age diagnosis to four to six months.
Deputy Phelan was told that development of quality standards for the Newborn Hearing Screening programme, with key performance indicators, will be primarily based upon those used in the UK for its Neonatal Hearing Screening Programme.
