§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many schoolchildren he estimates suffer from ear disease or hearing loss; and what steps are taken to detect this early on;
(2) what is his policy regarding the auditory screening of all schoolchildren by the school health service; and if he is satisfied that this is being carried out.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergIn January 1981 there were about 9,000 deaf or partially hearing children in special schools or in special classes in ordinary schools.
The Department has emphasised to health authorities the importance of early detection of hearing loss in children because of the implications such loss has in general, and particularly language development. We endorse the recommendations in the reports of 1976 and 1981 of a sub-committee of the Committee on Services for Hearing Impaired People, that as a minimum all children should be screened for hearing at about eight months and during the first year at school, and that any child with signs of a hearing loss should be referred for further investigation. The Department's paper of 1980 "Prevention in the Child Health Services' also stressed screening for hearing impairment as an essential element of health surveillance. Precise details of such programmes must be for determination by local health authorities, but there in no reason to believe that screening for hearing difficulties is not being carried out as part of general child health surveillance.