Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made by NHS England’s National Paediatric Hearing Improvement Programme; and what findings it has found following its review of data for newborn babies in England.

The Paediatric Hearing Services Improvement Programme is focussed on delivering several strategic interventions over a short, medium and long-term period. Some of the key areas of focus include: supporting the audiology workforce with training and education,; supporting services to achieve accreditation with the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS); and supporting paediatric audiology services regarding review of patient records, including ensuring that children identified as requiring reassessment are prioritised.

NHS England’s Newborn Hearing Screening Programme investigation indicated areas for improvement in:

- the quality of practice;

- workforce training and education;

- data, results and report management;

- quality assurance;

- the peer review process; and

- UKAS Improving Quality in Physiological Services accreditation.