Open call for evidence

Kingdon review of children's hearing services

Published 9 May 2025

Applies to England

Children’s hearing services (paediatric audiology) provide care and support for children with deafness or hearing loss. Deafness, or hearing loss, happens when one or more parts of the ear are not working effectively, and this can impact speech and language development and social skills. Early intervention and treatment can largely reverse the effects on speech and language. Treatment could be, for example, cochlear implants, hearing aids, and speech and language therapy.

The Newborn Hearing Screening Programme tests around 99% of children born every year in England before they are 3 months old. If the screening identifies hearing loss, or the results are not clear, children are referred to hearing services for further tests and, if needed, to develop a treatment plan.

Background to the independent review

In December 2021, a report was published into service issues in children’s hearing services in NHS Lothian. The report focused on whether children’s hearing tests were being conducted properly and were effectively followed up. Further problems with the diagnosis of hearing issues in newborns and children were identified in other Scottish NHS trusts in 2023.

Subsequent assessment of NHS hearing services in children’s departments across England in 2023 and 2024 identified similar problems. NHS England established the Paediatric Hearing Services Improvement Programme in 2023 to address the issues and oversee remedial action. You can find more details about this programme on the NHS England website at Addressing concerns in children’s hearing services.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has appointed Dr Camilla Kingdon to chair an independent review into children’s hearing services. The review will consider:

• NHS England’s response to the service failures in children’s hearing services
• how the relevant governance arrangements between NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) could be improved, and identify lessons learned
• how NHS England’s handling of any future service failures in similar services could be improved, and identify lessons learned

You can read more about the purpose and scope of the review in the terms of reference.

Who we would like to respond

If you or someone you know has been affected by issues in children’s hearing services, the independent review would like your feedback. We would also welcome feedback from you if you work in - or with - children’s hearing services, or if you are an organisation with an interest in children’s hearing services. We would also like to receive your views on hearing services for children in England more broadly.

When completing the call for evidence survey, do not include any personally identifiable information in your response.

The privacy notice sets out more information about how we will use and store your responses.

Making complaints about NHS services

The information you share with us will be used only for the purposes of the independent review. If you have concerns about your child’s hearing, you should consult your GP practice.  

If you would like further information about hearing and hearing tests, as well as information about hearing loss and how it is managed, please consult:

• the hearing tests and hearing loss pages on the NHS website
• the National Deaf Children’s Society, which also runs an advice and guidance helpline

If you are concerned about care or treatment provided by the NHS you can make a complaint about NHS services.

You can also notify the Care Quality Commission (CQC) about any poor care that you have seen or experienced. While CQC does not have the legal powers to investigate individual complaints, it does use the information provided to them by the public as evidence to inform their regulatory planning in relation to all services. You can give feedback about your experience of care on the CQC website.

If you are working in the NHS and have concerns that are stopping you from delivering safe and high-quality care, you should raise the matter internally through your organisation. Support to do this is available through local Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) guardians, whose role is to help and support staff who want to speak up about their concerns. You can find a local FTSU guardian on the National Guardian website. For matters relating to the conduct of a member of staff, you can also contact the relevant professional body such as the General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council or the Health and Care Professions Council.

How to respond

The call for evidence will close at 11:59pm on 2 June 2025.

You can respond to this call for evidence using the call for evidence online survey.

It may be possible to receive a copy of this call for evidence and to submit your response in British Sign Language, using video format. The review team will be able to advise further. Email paediatricaudiologyreview@dhsc.gov.uk.

Next steps

Once the call for evidence survey has closed, the review team will review and analyse the responses received. This will inform the findings and recommendations of the independent review.

Call for evidence questions

Who you are

In what capacity are you responding to this survey?

• An individual sharing my personal views and experiences
• An individual sharing my professional views
• On behalf of an organisation

Question for individuals sharing personal views and experiences

Which of the following best describes you when interacting with children’s audiology services?

• I am a parent or carer of an affected baby or child
• I am a close friend or family member of an affected baby or child
• Other, please specify

When did you last interact with children’s audiology services in England? Please enter the month and year.

Questions for individuals sharing professional views

Which of the following best describes your primary role when interacting with children’s audiology services?

• Qualified audiologist (healthcare scientist) or clinical scientist
• Newborn hearing screener
• Clinical scientist registered with the Health and Care Professions Council
• Other audiology practitioner
• Medical staff working in ear, nose and throat (ENT), registered with the General Medical Council
• Medical staff working in paediatric audiology, registered with the General Medical Council
• Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) practitioner
• Audio vestibular physician or specialist community paediatrician
• Speech and language therapist
• Teacher of the deaf or educational audiologist
• Academic researcher in a relevant field
• Other, please specify

Questions for individuals responding on behalf of an organisation

What is the name of your organisation?

Which of the following best describes the primary role of your organisation?

• Paediatric audiology department in England
• ENT department in England
• NHS trust in England
• Integrated care board (ICB) in England
• NHS England
• Professional body for audiology
• Registration or accreditation body for audiologists or audiology providers
• Charity or voluntary sector organisation
• Academic or research institute or university
• Other, please specify

Your experience of children’s audiology services

Questions for individuals sharing personal views and experiences

When was your baby or child first referred to a children’s audiology department?

• Through the newborn hearing screening test
• During childhood

Based on your experience of children’s audiology services, overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you with:

The experience of either the newborn hearing screening test or initial hearing test?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Not applicable

How quickly you received your first appointment in children’s audiology following either the newborn hearing screening test or initial hearing test?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Not applicable

How quickly you received a diagnosis?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Not applicable

How quickly you received follow-up treatment in children’s audiology services or ENT services?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Not applicable

The treatment provided for any hearing loss or deafness in children’s audiology services or ENT services?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Not applicable

The support offered throughout your contact with children’s audiology services?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Not applicable

The explanations of results and treatments provided during your appointments? That is, how much you understood the explanation given by an audiologist, doctor or nurse.

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Not applicable

How your views and concerns were considered and taken into account during appointments with children’s audiology services?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Not applicable

How any concerns you had were addressed during appointments with children’s audiology services?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Not applicable

Any additional support offered from other services? For example, hearing support and teachers of the deaf, speech and language therapy, or support for special educational needs and disabilities.

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Not applicable

How quickly you were referred to additional sources of support? For example, hearing support and teachers of the deaf, speech and language therapy, or support for special educational needs and disabilities.

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Not applicable

Your overall experience of children’s audiology services?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Not applicable

What could the NHS improve based on your experiences of children’s audiology services? Do not include any personally identifiable information in your response. (Optional, maximum 300 words.)

Questions for organisations and individuals sharing professional views

The following questions refer to the review and recall of children affected by service issues in children’s audiology services. This review and recall exercise is part of NHS England’s Paediatric Hearing Services Improvement Programme.

Have you or your organisation been involved in the review and recall of children affected by service issues in children’s audiology services?

• Yes
• No
• I am not aware of this programme of work

If you have any reflections on the review and recall of children affected by service issues in children’s audiology services, please set them out here. Do not include any personally identifiable information in your response. (Optional, maximum 300 words.)

If you have any suggestions for how the NHS could improve the way it responds to issues in children’s audiology services, please set them out here. You may also want to share with us your reflections of working within or alongside children’s audiology services in the NHS. Do not include any personally identifiable information in your response. (Optional, maximum 300 words.)

About you

Questions for individuals sharing personal or professional views

What is your sex?

• Female
• Male
• Prefer not to say

Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?

• Yes
• No
• Prefer not to say

What is your ethnic group?

• White - includes British, Northern Irish, Irish, Gypsy, Irish Traveller, Roma or any other White background
• Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - includes White and Black Caribbean, White and Black African, White and Asian or any other Mixed or multiple background
• Asian or British Asian - includes Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese or any other Asian background
• Black, Black British, Caribbean, African or any other Black background
• Other - includes Arab or any other ethnic group
• Prefer not to say

Question for individuals sharing personal views and experiences

Which areas of England did you access children’s audiology services from? Select all that apply.

• East of England
• London
• Midlands
• North East and Yorkshire
• North West
• South East
• South West
• Nationwide
• I or my organisation work in children’s audiology services outside of England
• Prefer not to say
• Not applicable

Question for organisations and individuals sharing professional views

Which areas of England do you or your organisation work? Select all that apply.

• East of England
• London
• Midlands
• North East and Yorkshire
• North West
• South East
• South West
• Nationwide
• I or my organisation work in children’s audiology services outside of England
• Prefer not to say
• Not applicable

Privacy notice

Data controller

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is the data controller.

What personal data we collect

DHSC will seek the views of individuals and organisations to inform the independent review. This notice sets out how data collected through the call for evidence will be used.

As part of our call for evidence we will collect data on:

• whether you are responding as an individual or on behalf of an organisation
• your experience of children’s hearing services and your suggestions for those services can be improved

If volunteered by you, we will also collect data on:

• the region in England where you have had experience of children’s audiology services, or where your organisation provides services
• demographic information (sex, gender and ethnicity)
• any other personal identifiable data you volunteer by way of evidence or example in your response to open-ended questions in the survey. All open-ended questions are prefaced with the comment ‘Do not include any personally identifiable information in your response’, in line with DHSC’s legal obligations to only process the minimum amount of personal identifiable data necessary for this activity

How we use your data (purposes)

We will use data collected by the review to inform the development of recommendations. Your data will be treated in the strictest of confidence and held securely. We may publish anonymised quotes and/or aggregated data as part of the final report of the review.

We collect your personal data as part of the review process for statistical purposes. For example, to understand how representative the results are and whether views and experiences vary across demographics.

If you mention any instances of criminality, the DHSC team have a responsibility to ensure this is passed on to any relevant authority.

Legal basis for processing personal data

Under article 6 of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the lawful basis we rely on for processing personal data is:

• (e) the processing is necessary to perform a task or function in the public interest or for our official functions and the task or function has a clear basis in law

In addition, we are also processing special category data under the following condition as per article 9 of the UK GDPR:

• (g) reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law)

The above are in line with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s duties in relation to securing continuous improvement in the quality of the health service, as outlined in Part 1 of the NHS Act 2006.

Data processors and other recipients of personal data

We will not pass any personally identifiable data you provide to any third party outside the independent Chair of the review, the sponsor team and secretariat provided by DHSC and any supporting analysts.

Responses to the call for evidence, including any personal data you provide, will be seen by DHSC’s third-party supplier (SocialOptic), who is responsible for running and hosting the online survey.

Anonymised data may be shared with other teams and individuals in DHSC and externally for the purpose of analysing the survey results and contextualising the findings.

International data transfers and storage locations

Storage of data by DHSC is provided via secure computing infrastructure on servers located in the Azure UK data centres. Our platforms are subject to extensive security protections and encryption measures.

Storage of data by SocialOptic is provided via secure servers located in the UK.

Retention and disposal policy

DHSC will only retain your personal data, in anonymous form, for as long as it has value to the review. This will include, for as long as it relates to the call for evidence and for any subsequent work on the review. Any personal data that has not been anonymised and was voluntarily provided will be held by DHSC for a maximum of one year after the end of the review.

SocialOptic will securely erase the data held on their system one year after the call for evidence online survey closes or when instructed to do so by DHSC. This erased data will then be cycled out of SocialOptic’s back-up storage within 6 to 8 weeks.

Data retention will be reviewed regularly.

How we keep your data secure

DHSC uses appropriate technical, organisational and administrative security measures to protect any information we hold in our records from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. We have written procedures and policies which are regularly audited and reviewed at a senior level. SocialOptic is Cyber Essentials certified.

Your rights as a data subject

By law, data subjects have a number of rights, and this processing does not take away or reduce these rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the UK Data Protection Act 2018 applies.

These rights are:

1. The right to get copies of information - individuals have the right to ask for a copy of any information about them that is used.
2. The right to get information corrected - individuals have the right to ask for any information held about them that they think is inaccurate, to be corrected.
3. The right to limit how the information is used - individuals have the right to ask for any of the information held about them to be restricted, for example, if they think inaccurate information is being used.
4. The right to object to the information being used - individuals can ask for any information held about them to not be used. However, this is not an absolute right, and continued use of the information may be necessary, with individuals being advised if this is the case.
5. The right to get information deleted - this is not an absolute right, and continued use of the information may be necessary, with individuals being advised if this is the case.

Comments or complaints

Anyone unhappy or wishing to complain about how personal data is used as part of this programme, should contact DHSC’s Data Protection Officer:

Email: data_protection@dhsc.gov.uk

Post:

Data Protection Officer
1st Floor North
39 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0EU

Anyone who is still not satisfied can complain to the Information Commissioners Office.

Their postal address is:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Automated decision making or profiling

No decision will be made about individuals solely based on automated decision making (where a decision is taken about them using an electronic system without human involvement) which has a significant impact on them.

Changes to this policy

This privacy notice is kept under regular review. This privacy notice was last updated on 9 May 2025.