Calls for hearing assessments fall on deaf ears

Date Published: 17-Mar-2010

There are over 1,200 children in Galway with suspected hearing problems currently waiting for a hearing assessment by the HSE and there is no audio specialist in place to perform the required test.

The Health Service Executive has admitted that (as of January 31 this year) there were 222 children under four years of age and 996 children over the age of four waiting on a hearing assessment.

The HSE has been unable to provide an Audiological Scientist to asses children in Galway since last November. There was a locum Scientist in place who was working a mere three days a month up to November but the person carrying out this role left due to long term illness.

The HSE has been prevented from re-filling the post due to the moratorium on recruitment but a spokesperson says the executive is trying to secure a locum Scientist who would again work on a limited basis. The HSE says if a locum is put in place, children who need to be seen ‘urgently’ will be ‘prioritised’.

Ballinasloe based Councillor Michael Mullins who is a member of the HSE West Regional Health Forum is appalled by the figures; ‘I think this is absolutely outrageous, hearing is something that if a problem is not caught at an early stage it will put a child at a severe disadvantage.

Again the most vulnerable people are again being attacked. This is forcing parents whose children have hearing problems to go private and this is what we’re seeing with the HSE all the time, people are being forced to visit private consultants and that’s fine if one can afford it but for the majority of people in the current economic climate, they rely on the state to provide an adequate health service.’

Councillor Mullins also can’t understand why hearing tests are not covered under the medical card scheme; ‘If a person has problems with their sight and they hold a medical card, they are entitled to a free eye test, and why is a medical card holder who has problems with their hearing not entitled to a hearing test?’

There are 143 adults awaiting a hearing test and the average time they must wait for an assessment after referral is three months.

However this timescale is only because no hearing aids are being fitted at the moment. The average waiting time for the test would normally be closer to four to six months the HSE confirmed.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune