One of the problems facing health services is that of communicating effectively essential information concerning their services and care plans with deaf people. Planners and providers of health services need to recognise their responsibilities and the rights of deaf people to have full information and access to services available to the community as a whole.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), it is unlawful for a service provider to discriminate by offering a lower standard of service or providing a service in a worse manner to deaf people.

SCoD also recognises that deaf people will benefit from the early diagnosis of hearing loss. In particular, permanent deafness can affect a child's language acquisition, learning disabilities and social & personal development. Hence, it is vital that babies receive Universal Newborn Hearing Screening as early as possible to identify potential hearing problems.

The Scottish Council on Deafness therefore welcomes the decision of the Scottish Parliament to introduce such hearing tests for deafness (which are safe, simple and relatively inexpensive) in newborn babies.

Furthermore, the Scottish Council on Deafness recommends that the following good practice be implemented:

1. Universal Newborn Hearing Screening should be adopted as national policy and be available evenly throughout the country without delay.
   
   
2. The best method(s) for screening babies should be used and staff should have the appropriate training and skills to carry out the screening.
   
   
3. Parents of babies should have the right to have their babies tested as early as possible, particularly where hearing loss may be suspected (e.g. by observation, family history, etc.).
   
   
4. Parents of babies should have full access to information on Universal Newborn Hearing Screening; for example, the National Deaf Children's Society has an excellent series of leaflets (see Bibliography below).
   
   
5. Babies diagnosed as having hearing loss should receive thorough multi-disciplinary assessments as soon as possible.
   
   
6. Babies diagnosed with hearing loss should, as soon as possible, be fitted with suitable hearing aids or, where appropriate, receive cochlear implants.
   
   
7. Parents of babies diagnosed as having hearing loss should have access to appropriate support for themselves, such as counselling, etc.
   
   
8. Parents of babies who have been diagnosed as having hearing loss should also be referred, as and when appropriate, to local and national support services including Audiology and ENT Services, Social Services, Education Services, Speech & Language Therapists as well as the National Deaf Children's Society and other relevant organisations.
   
   
9. All staff involved in Universal Newborn Hearing Screening should be fully aware of the Scottish Council on Deafness' position statements on audiology services, health services and cochlear implants all of which should be read in conjunction with this document.

Selected Bibliography

Quality Standards in Paediatric Audiology: Volume 1, NDCS, 1994.

Quality Standards in Paediatric Audiology: Volume 2, NDCS, 1996.

Quality Standards in Paediatric Audiology: Volume 4: Guidelines for the early identification and the audiology management of children with hearing loss, NDCS, 2000.

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