More than a dozen families are suing NHS Lothian after a report found significant failures at the health board's hearing service for children, as per the BBC News. An independent audit of NHS Lothian's services found the health board misdiagnosed 155 of the 1,113 patients it treated between 2009 and 2018.
The British Academy of Audiology conducted the review, with the independent investigation finding serious problems in how NHS Lothian diagnosed and treated hearing loss. Those failures were devastating for the families of the deaf and partially deaf children as they were identified as such years later than they should have.
NHS Lothian apologized to the 155 families following the report's publication in December of last year, with the health board announcing that it was implementing the review's recommendations.
Affected families suing NHS Lothian following report's release
Following the report's publication and NHS Lothian's apology, the Scottish Government confirmed that the health board had been escalated to stage three of the NHS Board Performance Escalation Framework for paediatric audiology performance and service delivery.
Those actions are not enough for the families affected by the health board's poor services. The families whose children received wrong treatment from NHS Lothian are now seeking compensation with Jonathan Howat, a senior lawyer with Thompsons Solicitors, tasked to represent them in the legal battle.
Howat issued a statement, saying, "The wards and the other families I represent have been treated disgracefully by NHS Lothian. As a result of delays in identifying and treating hearing impairments, the lives of many children have been made significantly more challenging."
Howat added that their legal action against the health board would ensure that these children and their families are properly compensated. Howat and the families will feel confident of their chances of landing a huge sum of money with the British Academy of Audiology blasting NHS Lothian in its report.
The audit identified significant concerns about the hearing tests conducted by NHS Lothian that were not carried out to the required professional standard. According to the British Academy of Audiology, these resulted in consequences for deaf children and their families.
NHS Lothian's failures in child hearing services had severe impact
The report said that the failings in the standard of hearing tests given by NHS Lothian "adversely impacted the early years spoken language acquisition of numerous children, affecting a number of these children for life."
The report also noted that in some cases, diagnosis of hearing loss or impairment on deaf children might have been missed or delayed by NHS Lothian. The report highlighted five children who were not deemed suitable for cochlear implantation due to delays in hearing loss identification by NHS Lothian. Among NHS Lothian's failures were two children who were assessed as normal by the health board but then eventually referred for cochlear implantation.
Five more children had their cochlear implantation delayed due to a delay in hearing loss identification by NHS Lothian. The report also identified 49 children whose identification and management of a hearing loss was significantly delayed by NHS Lothian.
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