Hearing loss in 16 children missed by clinician

SIXTEEN children with hearing loss ranging from mild to profound went undiagnosed by a clinician who worked in Cork, Kerry and Limerick for a six-year period.

A HSE report, to be published today, will also show that in addition to the children, who ranged in age from two to 16, four adults were given wrong results, including one whose hearing loss was not identified, two who were told they had a degree of hearing loss when they did not and one whose hearing difficulty was miscategorised. The adults were aged 18, 19 and over 65.

The findings are highlighted in the Health Service Executive South Audiology Review 2009, carried out to determine how many patients were failed by an audiological scientist working in audiology services in the HSE South between September 2001 and December 2007.