Question reference: S6W-09882
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 25 July 2022
-
Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 August 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to connect speech therapists and community support organisations with parents of children in Lothian who were not correctly diagnosed with hearing loss and who have potentially missed out on years of communication with speech therapists and community support groups, in light of the reported failures in diagnosing and treating hearing loss within NHS Lothian’s Paediatric Audiology Services.
Answer
Following the publication of the review findings in December 2021, NHS Lothian has had extensive interactions with a wide range of professionals who work with children and young people to highlight the key findings in the report and this has included Speech and Language Therapists, Health Visitors, General Practice, Ear Nose and Throat clinicians, Community Paediatricians and teaching staff, with further communication to the Director of Education. This has involved individual meetings with professionals as well as the development of a staff briefing document, which was widely circulated across key networks. As part of this process, those working with children who had any concerns about a child's hearing were encouraged to contact the Audiology department directly or to refer the child through the normal referral route (e.g. Health Visitor, Speech and Language, GPs).