The HSE’s treatment of families affected by the audiology scandal in Mayo and Roscommon is completely unacceptable. Fifty children have been identified in a HSE review of audiology services as having been misdiagnosed.
Once again we have a scandal within the HSE revealed by investigative journalism. In response, the HSE have attempted to portray itself as being helpful and informative to the families throughout. This is certainly not the case. The fact is that the HSE had a responsibility to ensure that the families affected were the first to be informed of the contents of this long awaited report. The families involved have not even had sight of the report yet. The HSE have had to be dragged kicking and screaming in relation to the release of information and offering full, comprehensive and sincere apologies to those affected by recent scandals.
I have been working with the family of a 7 year old girl in Mayo who was misdiagnosed and now suffers from hearing loss. The girl in question was discharged from the HSE Audiology Service only later to be diagnosed with severe to profound hearing loss. I know from these parents that there was a complete vacuum in communication where the HSE adopted a ‘shut-down and go away’ attitude.
I am calling on the HSE to make contact with all affected families and make the report available to them immediately. The recommendations and action points contained in the report have to be acted upon urgently and the supports and services, including speech and language therapy, psychological supports and appropriate hearing aids, must be made immediately available.
It is impossible to undo the distress and anxiety suffered by the families involved but there has to be appropriate redress to mitigate the impact of these delayed diagnoses. Parents now need reassurance that the necessary clinical governance is in place to ensure they can have confidence in the audiology screening programme.
