Hearing services review launched after health board’s ‘horrendous’ errors

A review has been launched by the Scottish Government into audiology services for children and adults across the country.

The review, which will be chaired independently, comes after mistakes by NHS Lothian in its paediatric audiology department were branded “horrendous” by a charity.

An audit of the health board’s services found significant failures in 155 of the 1,113 patients treated between 2009 and 2018 which led to children being identified as deaf years later than they should have.

The Scottish Government has said that further assessment of audiology services has “highlighted areas of improvement” that need to be addressed.

Health Secretary, Humza Yousaf, said: “Following the unacceptable failures that were highlighted in paediatric audiology in NHS Lothian, I want to make sure our hearing services are fit for purpose across Scotland and this means ensuring any wider issues are identified and rectified.

“The first step of this is to appoint an independent chair, a process which will be undertaken as quickly as possible to provide the necessary leadership and oversight for this important piece of work.

“I will provide a further update detailing the remit of the review, its membership and timetable for reporting once an appointment has been made.”