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The Children’s Hearing Service has Clinical support under an SLA with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust which brings Scientific level support with 2 part-time Team Leads and three Clinical Scientists. The Clinical Scientists are all registered with the Health & Care Professions Council (HPCP).
The Children’s Hearing Service accepts referrals for children from 0-16 years (up to 19 years in the case of young people with complex needs). Children with hearing loss (permanent or temporary) and children with syndromes associated with hearing loss are monitored by the service. The service has a suite of three testing rooms at Chesterfield Royal Hospital; one is a purpose-built soundproof room. The Service also have a soundproof room facility at Buxton Health Centre.
The Service has held IQIPS (Improving Quality in Physiological Services) UKAS Accreditation since 2017.
The service consists of 4 part-time fully trained New-born Hearing Screeners. New-born Hearing Screeners have annual competency assessments and an NHSP e-learning package which is monitored as part of their annual appraisal. There is a Local Programme Manager who is also the Children’s Hearing Services Manager who reports to NHSEi and a Team Lead; responsible for the quality of the service.
The Screening Service identify babies eligible to be screened from the Programme database (Smart4Hearing aka S4H). Screening is performed within the first few hours of life but ideally at 6 Hrs. For babies who have been discharged, there is an outpatient clinic. Screens can be completed up to 3 months of age however there is a national KPI for screens to be completed within the first 4 weeks of life.
Babies under the well-baby pathway are screened on CBC, Trinity Ward or in outpatients. Babies under the NICU pathway are screened as close to discharge as possible or in outpatients. The newborn hearing screeners also provide an outreach clinic at Buxton Health Centre.
The Service has an external QA Assessment (Part of the Antenatal and newborn Screening QA).
Babies who do not pass the screening are moved into the Children’s Hearing Service for diagnostic assessment; there is a national KPI for diagnostic assessment to be received within 4 weeks of screen completion.