§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will announce a timetable for the national roll-out of the 20 universal neonatal hearing screening pilots. [5814]
§ Yvette CooperThe universal neonatal hearing screening pilot is the first phase of a national roll-out of the service. The pilot phase will provide important information, about the impact on audiology and other support services, and will provide the data that is required to enable us to plan a national roll-out to a sensible, feasible time scale. An announcement will be made early next year about a timetable for national implementation, taking account of the initial findings of the pilot phase. The pace of change will be determined by the practical challenges that the pilot will uncover.