New parents in Oxfordshire could be unaware that their children are deaf because health chiefs will not fund £13 hearing tests for newborn babies, writes Victoria

Owen.

Only six health authorities in the UK use a special examination to check a youngster's hearing days after birth. Oxfordshire is among the other areas which relies on a test which can only be used on babies of six months or older.

Some children may even live with their disability without detection until they are three, which can leave them struggling to communicate for the rest of their lives.

Research trust Defeating Deafness claims discrepancies between counties is a "postcode lottery" and is urging the Government to make sure all health authorities use the new Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening (UNHS) test. Defeating Deafness believes the Health Visitor Distraction Test, used in Oxfordshire, picks up less than half of hearing-impaired children.

The UNHS works by detecting the natural echo made by ears after hearing sound. A computer can pick up this echo in babies only a few days old.

Using the new test could cost Oxfordshire Health Authority up to £100,000 a year. However, county health chiefs will not consider it until it has been made a top priority by the Department of Health.

An Oxfordshire Health Authority spokesman said: "We have discussed the test in our priorities forum committee and we are still collecting information on it for further discussion. "But at the moment we are waiting for Government guidance."

The current test is carried out by health visitors, who work directly for the Oxfordshire Community Health NHS Trust.

The Medical Research Council recommended UNHS in 1997 and the Government referred the matter to a special National Screening Committee, which finally backed it in 1999.

Ministers are expected to make a final decision in the summer.

Story date: Saturday 19 February

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