A total of 1,786 children in Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) South region have waited two to three years for a first hearing-assessment, with five children waiting two months for the first fitting of a hearing-aid.
Sixteen minors in the region, aged from two to sixteen years old, also were not detected as having mild to profound hearing issues by one audiological scientist in the period from September 2001 to December 2007.
These statistics, published yesterday in the HSE South Audiology Review 2009, led to a review of audiology services in the region. Later this month, newborn hearing tests are to commence at Cork University Hospital.
Further Reading:
- The HSE’s National Audiology Review document (April 2011)
- Parents of Deaf Children Asked To Lobby TDs
- Hearing-Aids + Learning = Education
- Newborn Hearing Tests Start In Cork This Month
- Hearing loss in 16 children missed by clinician
- Moderate hearing loss in 12-year-old missed in tests
- Audiology review identifies 19 misdiagnoses (IMT, April 28th, 2011)
- Six-year delay in regulation of audiology sector
- Parents of newborns must pay €100 for a private hearing test
- Advocating For Your Child’s Service Provision
