More than a dozen families are demanding compensation after “significant failures” at NHS Lothian’s children’s hearing service.
The health department apologized to more than 155 families after an independent investigation found serious problems in diagnosing and treating hearing loss.
The British Academy of Audiology looked at more than 1,000 patient records from 2009 to 2018.
NHS Lothian said it was implementing the review’s recommendations.
Sophie was born partially deaf and failed repeated hearing tests for years.
Her family said no help was offered by NHS Lothian’s pediatric audiology department, which kept saying she was fine. But her parents say she is not.
Sophie is now seven. Their speech and language is not yet fully developed and is sometimes difficult to understand. Your confidence has taken a hit.
Her father Joseph said Sophie was afraid to socialize and would stand alone in the playground. She doesn’t go to parties in case the noise hurts her ears, he said.
Joseph said he had lost faith in the system. “You should have done more sooner,” he said.
Her mother Sarah said: “You let Sophie down. You kind of trust what they’re doing you thought maybe she doesn’t need hearing aids maybe she’s just catching up and now she’s almost eight years old and she still hasn’t caught up you’re like ‘ok maybe mistakes were made back then’ .”
An independent investigation by the British Academy of Audiology (BAA) published last December found “significant errors” involving 155 children over the age of nine in NHS Lothian.
Several children with hearing loss were diagnosed too late for vital implant surgery. The health department has “sincerely apologized” to those affected.
The BAA examined more than 1,000 patient records and found “significant errors” in nearly 14% of them.
The BAA said it found “no evidence” that national guidelines and protocols on hearing tests for children had been followed or consistently applied “at any point since 2009.”
It was also highlighted that the median age of diagnosis of hearing loss in NHS Lothian during this period was 4.5 years. In England, the mean age at diagnosis was 109 days.
According to the report, NHS Lothian staff deviated from professional standards.
Not enough controls have been carried out or data collected to monitor how the service compares to other parts of the country.
More than a dozen families are now suing the health department for damages.
Lead Counsel Jonathan Howat of Thompson’s Solicitors is representing a number of affected children.
He said: “Families I represent have been treated disgracefully by NHS Lothian. Due to delays in the detection and treatment of hearing impairments, many children’s lives have become significantly more difficult.
“Our lawsuit against the health authority will ensure that these children and their families are adequately compensated.”
There are concerns the troubles could extend beyond the Lothian area.
Mike Hobday of the National Deaf Children’s Society said: “The problem with children’s hearing services in Scotland is that there is no systematic data collection.
“There is no way of knowing if the problems in NHS Lothian will be repeated anywhere else in Scotland.
“That is why we have asked the Scottish Government to collect data on the performance of children’s hearing services across Scotland and we very much hope this will determine if there are other sectors experiencing the same problems as NHS Lothian.”
- Deaf children “seriously failed” by the health department.
- Checking the hearing care professional for “horrendous” mistakes
NHS Lothian Medical Director Tracey Gillies said: “We continue to implement the recommendations of the review and report directly to the Scottish Government on our progress.
“We once again offer our sincere apologies to all affected children and their families for the deficiencies found during the review and for the concern and anxiety caused.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We share the concerns of the National Deaf Children’s Society and the failures of NHS Lothian to deliver on these services have been totally unacceptable.
“As a result, we recently announced that a National Audiology Review Group will be set up to examine the hearing services provided to both children and adults in health authorities across Scotland and make recommendations to improve the service.”
She said improving data collection is a key area for improvement work.
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