Guidance

9. Audiology

Updated 29 May 2024

Applies to England

Audiological assessment

Audiological assessment is carried out by a clinical audiologist, to determine the degree and type of hearing loss.

Babies referred by NHSP for Audiological assessment and follow-up must be seen within the timescales stipulated in the newborn hearing screening programme standards and in line with British Society of Audiology (BSA) & British Academy of Audiology (BAA) guidance.

Audiology services that are responsible for the assessment of immediate referrals from NHSP should actively participate in an external peer-review process of ABR and in a quality initiative such as Improving Quality in Physiological services (IQIPS). This will ensure compliance with s7A Public Health functions agreement NHSP service schedule.

Entry of audiological data into the NHSP national IT system

The effectiveness of NHSP (locally and nationally) is judged on key measures including yield (the number of babies identified), sensitivity (the ability to refer individuals with the target condition), age of identification of hearing loss and age at referral to professional early intervention services.

Data entry into the NHSP national IT system is required for all babies referred to audiology from the hearing screen.  Details of the data entry requirements are outlined in the S4H Audiology user guide which can be found on the Resource tile in the NHSP national IT system. 

The data added translates into key data items that enable reporting of degree and type of hearing loss identified, age at confirmation of permanent childhood hearing impairment (PCHI), the age at which amplification is offered, accepted and fitted, age at referral to early intervention/teacher of the deaf (ToD) services and age at cochlear implantation (CI).

Audiologists’ use of the NHSP national IT system

Login for the NHSP national IT system is requested through the NHSP local manager who will be able to provide initial training on the NHSP national IT system. There is additional guidance and training in the S4H Audiology user guide, available on the Resource tile in the NHSP national IT system.

A training version of the NHSP national IT system is available. The training system does not require an N3 secure connection.  A guide for accessing the training system is available on the Resources tile of the NHSP national IT system.

Only genuine patient data must be entered in the live NHSP national IT system and only dummy data in the training system.

For problems entering data or accessing the NHSP national IT system please contact:

National hearing screening IT helpdesk

Email S4H.helpdesk@nhs.net

Phone 0845 0130183

For users of the S4H IT system. The helpdesk is open from 7am to 7pm, 365 days a year.

Requirements for audiological data

The audiology data held within the NHSP national IT system is crucial and gives the newborn hearing screening programme oversite of all babies in England with a PCHI identified by the screening programme or those with a later identified PCHI. Helping NHS England to identify trends through audit and sharing data can support plans for children in England.

Data is required from each audiology appointment until a PCHI of any degree in either ear is confirmed or ruled out.  Where PCHI is confirmed, the record should be updated annually until the child is 5 years of age.

Information relating to how to enter audiology data into the NHSP national IT system can be found in the S4H Audiology guide on the Resource tile in the NHSP national IT system.

Consent for audiology data

Parental consent obtained for newborn hearing screening includes consent to screen and consent to record and share screening and follow-up data for national audit.

If an eligible baby missed the screen, consent will not have been obtained by the hearing screening team locally and should be sought by the audiologist prior to diagnostic testing, to enable assessment data to be recorded in the NHSP national IT system.

Data quality reports

The newborn hearing screening programme monitors the quality and completeness of audiological data. Several audiology data reports are produced monthly highlighting records that need updating.

Further details on how to access these reports, report descriptors and the actions required can be found in the S4H Reports guide found on the Resource tile within the NHSP national IT system.

National hearing screening IT helpdesk

Email S4H.helpdesk@nhs.net

Phone 0845 0130183

For users of the S4H IT system. The helpdesk is open from 7am to 7pm, 365 days a year.

Which cases must be notified to the programme team?

The following cases require notification to the newborn hearing screening programme: * babies born in England or otherwise eligible for newborn hearing screening in England and identified with a PCHI of any degree in one or both ears by 5 years of age regardless of screen completion or outcome (unless there is robust evidence of meningitis or some other causative agent that occurred after the screen)

Use the ‘review of case of PCHI not identified by the newborn hearing screen late identified’ template and email it to the NHS England later identified hearing loss reporting email. The title of the email should be “Notification of later identified PCHI”. No patient identifiable details should be used in the file name or the documentation.

More detailed guidance can be found in the S4H Review of case of PCHI not identified by the newborn hearing screen on the NHSP national IT system Resources tile.

Acronym list:

• (NHSP): NHS Newborn Hearing Screening Programme
• (NHS E): NHS England
• (PCHI): permanent childhood hearing impairment
• (UKAS): United Kingdom Accreditation Scheme
• (IQIPS): Improving Quality in Physiological Services
• (S4H): SMaRT4Health national IT system
• (BAA): British Academy of Audiology
• (BSA): British Society of Audiology
• (ToD): teacher of the deaf
• (CI): cochlear implantation