Paediatric audiology Priorities for 2008/09 Susan Daniels Chief Executive

Services must reflect and be consistent with the “Every Child Matters” agenda The policy set out in “Aiming High for Disabled Children” (in particular the core offer), must be applied to paediatric audiology services

Paediatric Audiology Services 5 priorities for deaf children and their families

Information a) Provision Provision of clear information on entitlements and standard of service Signposting to other sources of advice and help Provision of information on local performance of services to enable service users to benchmark the quality of provision in their area

1) Information b) Gathering Involvement of parents, children and young people in planning and shaping local services and moving them towards a truly family friendly provision as defined by the users themselves Quality Assurance programme to ensure quality standards are embedded and impact on practice

2) Waiting times What should be the average waiting time for children from referral to the fitting of a hearing aid? Impact of prioritisation of babies on waiting times for older children Variation of performance between PCT’s Collection and publication of data by PCT area

3) NHSP in London Particular problems of low quality and coverage rates in some parts of London London Moving Forward set out proposals for addressing the problems but there has been limited progress in implementing them

4) Cochlear Implants Ensuring access and availability Ensuring clarity about bilateral implantation for children Developing quality standards for CI Centres

5)Training of paediatric audiologists Higher level training modules are not being accessed because of funding shortfalls Most audiologists are not covered by the Health Professional Council Mandatory CPD is required by HPC

According to families and users of paediatric audiology services, they have yet to see much improvement at local level that suggests deaf children’s experiences are at the heart of the Every Child Matters Agenda

NDCS urges the Department of Health to take action on the 5 main areas detailed here