Overview

 

What is the Kingdon Review?

  • The independent review of children’s hearing services in England was commissioned by the Secretary of State, Wes Streeting, earlier this year after a series of catastrophic failures were uncovered in paediatric audiology services in some areas of England.
  • Dr Camilla Kingdon was appointed the independent chair of the review – hence why it is referred to as the “Kingdon Review”.

 

What does it mean?

  • The Department for Health and Social Care has now published the Kingdon Review and its 12 recommendations.
  • The Review identified over 300 children harmed as a result of the failings, with the full number still to be established.
  • The Review is an important step in overhauling paediatric audiology services in England, which are currently limited by capacity, capability and funding in the system.
  • The Review makes a series of recommendations including redesigning how children’s hearing services are delivered, properly investing in services to make sure they have the funding and resources needed be effective, and transforming how service performance is monitored to drive higher-quality outcomes.

 

How have NDCS been involved?

  • The National Deaf Children’s Society has played a signifcant role in highlighting the failings and calling for change over the past two years, as well as ensuring that deaf children and their families were at the front and centre of the review.
  • We ran focus groups for the review so that families of deaf children could speak directly to Camilla Kingdon.
  • The National Deaf Children’s Society is here for any families who are worried about the findings of the report, or about any aspect of their child’s hearing. 
  • Families can contact our helpline or visit our website for support.

 

Key messages 

  • It’s heartbreaking that deaf children and their families have been so badly let down. No child should be left to face lifelong challenges because of avoidable failings in a system that exists to support them.
  • The National Deaf Children's Society welcomes the publication of the review and urges the Government to follow through on the recommendations as a matter of urgency.
  • Deaf children and their families have been subjected to an overlooked, undervalued and underfunded system for too long – and they deserve better.
  • They must be at the heart of every decision now made to improve services and build a more cost-effective, accessible paediatric audiology service in the NHS that is fit for the future.
  • The Government must invest in children’s audiology as a matter of urgency. Swift action is needed to minimise the risks and harm from the current failings and lay the groundwork for transforming a broken service that truly meets the needs of deaf children and their families.

 


 Possible questions/topics for helpline:


 What might parents be worried about?

  • We know there might be parents seeing this story in the news, who are now feeling extremely worried that they are affected.
  • The National Deaf Children’s Society is here for families whenever they need us. 
  • If a child has been affected by the failures highlighted in the review, the parent/family will be contacted by their audiology service.
  • If parents think they might need their child's hearing re-checked, we're still here for them too.

What resources do we have to support families?

Early Intervention Advice and Guidance Officers

  • Our Early Intervention Advice and Guidance Officers provide specialist one to one support for families of newly identified deaf children and those preparing to have their child's hearing retested.
  • If a family feels they would like to have one to one support, please direct them to contact our Early Intervention Team on adviceandguidance@ndcs.org.uk.

Do NDCS support the Kingdon Review's recommendations?

  • We welcome the recommendations. They clearly set out what needs to happen to ensure that every child can access high quality hearing services as early as possible.
  • It’s vital that these recommendations now turn into action. This starts with increased investment as a matter of urgency — building the capacity and skills needed to deliver high quality children’s hearing services for every child who needs them.

 

What needs to happen next? 

  • Urgent change is vital if we are to make sure a scandal on this scale never happens again.
  • The National Deaf Children’s Society is urging the Government to invest in paediatric audiology services as a matter of urgency.
  • We believe this is the only way to minimise the risks and harm from the current failings and lay the groundwork for a more cost-effective, accessible paediatric audiology service in the NHS that is fit for the future.