This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Newborn hearing impairment screening
24/02/2003
A pathfinder screening programme to detect hearing
impairments in newborn babies was launched in
Lothian today.
Deputy Health Minister Mary Mulligan was at St John's
Hospital, Livingston, to see first-hand how the programme
will operate.
She said:
"Sadly we cannot prevent a child being born with
congenital hearing impairment but this screening programme
will allow for the early detection and treatment, leading
to better speech and subsequent benefits in well being,
educational achievements and employment prospects.
"A programme such as this means that for the first time
all babies in the area will be screened in the first days
of their life as a matter of course. The pathfinder project
will help us to assess the experience of the programme.
Once the screening programme is fully implemented across
Scotland around 60-65 new cases a year of congenital
hearing impairment will be detected."
Two newborn hearing screening pathfinder sites have been
established in Scotland and are based in maternity units
Lothian and Tayside.
The screening of babies began in Tayside in January. New
parents will receive written information to find out more
about the screening.
Information from the pathfinder sites will help the NHS
Quality Improvement Scotland to develop quality guidelines
in preparation for roll-out of the newborn screening
programme Scotland-wide by April 2005.
In addition to the 2 pathfinder sites there is a
three-year newborn hearing screening pilot, in Highland and
Western Isles NHS Board, funded by Remote and Rural Areas
Resource Initiative (RARARI) which is using automated
audiology brainstem responses as the primary screening test
on babies.
The Lothian pathfinder scheme uses automated audiology
brainstem response (ABBR) screening equipment and the
Tayside scheme uses automated Otacoustic emissions (AOAE)
and AABR. Both pathfinder sites were established in
2002.
Training for the newborn hearing screening programme in
Lothian began on February 10 and is expected to be
completed by the Spring when screening across Lothian will
begin. The Tayside pathfinder site began screening in
January 2003.
Currently, the Infant Distraction Test is undertaken by
health visitors when babies are 7-8 months.
Community Health Visitors and midwives will provide
failsafe service for babies where screening is not carried
out in hospital.
In 1998, Lothian NHS Board introduced targeted newborn
hearing screening for babies who were recognised as having
risk factors for hearing loss.