INDEPENDENT AUDIOLOGISTS AUSTRALIA: HEALTH MINISTERS MUST PUSH FOR REGISTRATION OF PROFESSION FOLLOWING SHORTFALLS IN TWO HOSPITAL AUDIOLOGY DEPARTMENTS

Paediatric Certification not fit-for-purpose, AHPRA registration of audiologists urgently needed

November 17th, 2023 –

Independent Audiologists Australia (IAA) has welcomed the report released by the Townsville Hospital and Health Services (THHS) following the investigation of the Townsville University Hospital's (TUA) Audiology department. IAA believes that THHS should take action on all 25 of the recommendations in the report. The investigation was initiated by THHS's internal audit process after a cluster of "unexpected outcomes" was discovered in the follow-up testing of newborns from the hearing screening program. THHS voluntarily expanded the review to include cochlear implant mapping outcomes after becoming aware of reported adverse outcomes at South Australia's Women's and Children's Health Network (WCHN). THHS should be commended for initiating a timely, transparent, and comprehensive investigation.

IAA was saddened to see these issues surface in hospitals across multiple states. We raise concerns that audits are not routinely performed in all states, and recommend that this be considered with urgency. The reviews of both TUH and WCHN highlight the challenges encountered by audiology departments in hospitals—over-scheduling, understaffing, and audiologists often working in isolation. The THHHS recommendations included collaborative models of care, and engagement with external providers. Where possible, IAA strongly believes that patients should be informed of community-based, private, and not-for-profit cochlear implant and audiology services.

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