The National Newborn Hearing Screening Programme has gone live in the north west. The first hospitals to go live in the west are Letterkenny General Hospital and Sligo Regional Hospital The new service provides a routine hearing screening test to newborn babies, usually while they are still in the hospital.
Cathal McGurgan, chief audiologist Sligo Regional Hospital said: “Mayo General Hospital will be the next hospital to go live later this summer and will offer the screening service to all Mayo newborn babies. Babies with Mayo addresses who are delivered in Sligo Regional Hospital will access the screening in Sligo before they are discharged.”
One to two babies in every 1,000 are born with a hearing loss; most of these babies are born to families with no history of such loss. Early diagnosis, treatment and support have a significant impact on the baby’s development, speech and language, education and help him or her to achieve their full potential in life.
