A scandal-hit NHS service failed to diagnose the hearing loss of two West Lothian brothers for years and wrongly told one he just had ear wax issues.
Cayden and Andy Loubser are among potentially thousands of children who had concerns dismissed by NHS Lothian’s audiology team between 2009 and 2018.
Cayden (6), only heard his mum’s voice properly when he was five after an audit of the service flagged his case and it was discovered he had severe hearing issues.
And his brother Andy (11), was only diagnosed with hearing loss last month, despite failing hearing tests as a baby.
Mum Cassie and her husband Andries, who stay at Heartlands near Whitburn, are now demanding a public inquiry.
She said: “I never would have imagined this for my sons, and for Cayden in particular that he wouldn’t know what my voice sounded like until he was five years old. It’s heartbreaking.”
Secretary Cassie, added: “We’ve had no apology or explanation about how this happened. The government and particularly the Health Secretary aren’t doing enough to get to the bottom of how so many children have been failed.”
NHS Lothian’s audiology service has been scrutinised after it emerged some children had been dismissed as having no problems only to later be identified as being deaf or hard of hearing. Some of them missed out on vital treatment which could have improved their hearing or prevented further loss.
An audit by the British Academy of Audiology in 2021 found widespread failures in the service.
The Sunday Mail reported that Cayden was among those identified in the 2021 audit and last year was finally diagnosed with conductive hearing loss. He now has equipment to help him hear.
Cassie (35), continued: “When we took him for his baby hearing tests they said that he had a lot of wax build-up in his ears, and that could be impacting on his hearing and we just had to use some ear drops and then take him back.
“We never got a follow-up appointment. Years later we got a letter from NHS Lothian mentioning there had been an audit and could we bring Cayden in. They assessed him and told us he’s got hearing loss across all five sound frequencies.
“It was a shock but everything fell into place – he had a speech delay and started speaking a little later and he responded more to my voice than his dad’s voice and I think it’s because of the tones.
“He was recommended to have a conductive hearing band and what a difference that has made. The first time he put it on, I said something at the back of the room and he went: ‘Wow Mum, is that what your voice sounds like?’ It was incredible but also heartbreaking. He had basically been coping by lip reading everything and we didn’t know.
“He’s a lovely little boy but he is still very dependent on us and he’s very shy in social situations. I wonder sometimes if that’s not due to him missing that initial socialisation period when he was younger because of his hearing.”
When Cayden was called back for testing Cassie started asking questions about Andy, who had been assessed as a baby by the head of paediatric audiology, Dawn Lamerton.
Lamerton was struck off in February this year after an probe by the Academy for Healthcare Science found her “fitness to practise is impaired related to [her] leadership and management of Paediatric Audiology Services for nine years or more and the adequacy of the services provided to hundreds of children during that period”.
By then she had already voluntarily resigned her professional registration.
An angered Cassie said: “I told the doctors I was concerned about Andy having hearing issues too. He was assessed by Dawn Lamerton in 2013.
“They asked why I was even there because his test when he was a baby flagged up that he had issues. That was the first time I was hearing of it. We had never been told he had failed his hearing tests. The woman who told me went very quiet very quickly.”
Last month, Andy was diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss which is likely to mean he has reduced hearing for life.
Cassie said: “It’s time for a public inquiry as I don’t believe all the child-ren who have been affected know about it. There are going to be children out there who are being written off as having behavioural problems and it’s actually because they’ve hearing loss.”
Jonathan Howatt, head of medical negligence at Thompsons solicitors, represents Cassie’s family and dozens of others affected by the scandal. He said: “When I first heard about Cayden and Andy’s cases I was shocked and horrified that this could have happened. Quite quickly I became concerned about how many other children are affected.
“You could argue that these children were lucky to have a mum that was so persistent but not everybody has the confidence to be that persistent with medical professionals. There are concerns in my mind that we don’t know the true scale of this problem.”
Allister Short, NHS Lothian’s director for Women and Children’s services said: “We apologise again to families who have been affected by the failings within our children’s audiology services.
“We have been open and transparent since identifying these failings and NHS Lothian has worked closely with affected families, charities and relevant professional groups to ensure that continued support is available. We have made extensive efforts to reach out to those affected and encouraged families to get in touch with us.”
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