After 24 years, our Newborn Screening team have a long-awaited new uniform.

Around 1-2 in 900 children are born each year with hearing impairment severe enough to compromise speech and language development and communication.

Our Newborn Hearing Screeners use equipment to identify babies who may have a permanent hearing loss as early as possible. This means parents and babies can get the support and advice they need right from the start. Newborn hearing screening is offered to all babies in England, ideally within the first four weeks of birth. At CHFT we achieve 99.6% of these screens within the four weeks.

CHFT has had Newborn Hearing Screeners since 2002. Nichola Lister has been with the Trust since then, and Caroline Gledhill been here almost as long, joining in 2003. Both of them may well be the longest serving newborn hearing screeners in the country.

Over the last 24 years, management of deafness in children has seen significant changes. Antenatal and Newborn Screening Co-ordinator, Nicola Brett, said: "Prior to newborn hearing screening, the average age of diagnosis of deafness severe enough to compromise speech and language development was 26 months, with hearing aid fitting at 32 months.

"Now, the vast majority of congenitally deaf children have their hearing loss confirmed by 6 months of age, with many identified within the first 4 weeks of life. 

"We are seeing the impact of early diagnosis in children having better speech and language skills and educational attainment."