Newborn Hearing Screening Programme, a thoughtful initiative by St Luke’s Hospital provides free hearing test for all the babies born in St Luke and at home. This program was launched few days back at the hospital. UK Company Northgate Information Solutions conducts this screen test. Currently, they have implemented the service in 300 sites across the UK. This bedside service includes two tests. If unclear results are obtained, an appointment with the Regional Diagnostic Audiology Clinic at Waterford Regional Hospital will be arranged within a month and babies with a family history diagnostic testing will be arranged in eight months.
Parents will be given necessary instructions about the things they should be careful of and the sounds made by the baby. This service was launched first in Cork University Hospital in April 2010, then Wexford, Waterford and Kerry. Now St Luke hospital and Clonmel is offering the free hearing screening service. Easy identification of hear loss could offer improved speech and language results. By this year end, the service will screen 19,000 babies in the HSE South area. This service is very useful as it detects hearing loss at earlier stages and offer essential support to the parents.
Hearing loss could affect one to two of every 1000 children.
