About NBHSW - Service objective
The overall objective of the programme is to identify babies with hearing impairment which is of sufficient severity to potentially cause a disability without the introduction of habilitation in infancy.
In order to achieve this:
- The screen will be offered to all babies whose mother resides in Wales.
- Parents will be provided with information antenatally.
- The screen will be offered to most babies within the first week of life and will be completed by the age of four weeks.
- Babies are eligible to enter the screening programme up to six weeks of age.
- Significant hearing impairment is a bilateral permanent hearing loss of a level greater than 40 dBHL across the frequency range of 500 Hz, 1KHz and 4KHz.
- The screening programme ends at the completion of the assessment process or at three months of age (allowing for prematurity in the at risk babies), whichever is the soonest. It is accepted that audiological confirmation may not be completed by this stage.
- The screening programme aims to ensure that appropriate services are in place for hearing impaired young babies and their families up to the age of two years.
- The screening programme will not identify all young children with hearing impairment and therefore continued surveillance by parents and professionals is important.
- A targeted distraction test will be offered for babies with identified risk conditions relating to hearing loss or who miss newborn screening.
- The programme has formal responsibility of the management and quality assurance of the All-Wales UNHS programme, from the provision of information antenatally to the end of the screening, and where relevant, assessment process for each baby.