Evidence submitted by the Royal College
of Paediatrics and Child Health (AUDIO 39)
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
welcomes the opportunity to submit comments to the Inquiry into
Audiology. The College's response to the specific questions is
set out below:
Whether accurate data on waiting times for audiology
services are available?
1. As far as paediatric audiology is concerned,
children are seen by different professionals, both medical and
non-medical. Within medical paediatric audiology there are different
grades of paediatrician, many working in the community where data
is hard to come by. It is probable that only consultant waits
are documented. Since the Department of Health started monthly
waiting statistics about a year ago, this may be clearer for adults
but not for children. Newborn Hearing Screening Quality Standards
state a maximum wait of four weeks for babies failing the newborn
hearing screen. New standards for paediatric audiology are in
progress.
Why audiology services appear to lag behind other
specialities in respect of waiting times and access and how this
can be addressed?
2. This point is aimed towards adults, but
the lag is due to services not being consultant led.
Whether the NHS has the capacity to treat the
numbers of patients waiting?
3. There will be a shortage of doctors working
in paediatric audiology in the next 5-10 years, as there is no
formal training path at present and the old "community"
structures are gone.
Whether enough new audiologists are being trained?
4. With the new degree courses there are
now new (non-medical) audiologists graduating at Level 5. However,
a non-medical audiologist should have Band 8 experience before
embarking on work with children. Doctors will always need to be
involved with children with deafness, because 40% of deaf children
have other special or complex needs.
How great a role the private sector should play
in providing audiology services?
5. This question again relates to adult
services, but we consider that on no account should children's
audiology be assigned to the private sector.
David Ennis
Director of Policy and Standards, Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health
9 February 2007
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