Cochlear implant action group get breakthrough

PARENTS of children who need a second cochlear implant are celebrating after plans for a bilateral cochlear implantation programme got underway.

Officials from the HSE met members of the Happy New Ear Campaign last Friday to outline plans that should see bilateral implantation rolled out in 2014.

Northside People has learned that the bilateral ear implant programme is now a very real possibility in 2014. Although there are a number of procedures to complete and a business plan to approve, all parties are optimistic that this can happen by next year.

The news has been greeted with delight by those involved in the Happy New Ear campaign launched in January.

Gary Norman, an audiologist at Beaumont Hospital, has been charged with heading the programme and is due to meet parents involved in the campaign this week.

Mr Norman will look to other European countries where the bilateral cochlear implant programme has been successfully rolled out.

Parents like Lorraine Murphy, from Swords, whose daughter Anna (pictured) is one of hundreds of children who desperately need a second cochlear implant, is delighted that Ireland will finally follow best medical practice.

“It’s absolutely fantastic news,

? she told Northside People after a meeting with the HSE last Friday, March 8. I have to pinch myself.

“We were told that a programme of bilateral cochlear implantation will get underway in 2014 and that a national director has been selected to head the programme.

“This is very real and significant progress which means so many children have the chance at getting or restoring full hearing in both ears but obviously we will be happier when the official announcement is made.

?

It’s understood that the roll-out of bilateral cochlear implant programme could cost around $7 million next year.

The breakthrough came after Minister for Health Dr James Reilly was criticised by the campaign group for refusing its request for a meeting.

An email response sent on Minister Reilly’s behalf to Ms Murphy, and seen by Northside People, reads:

“The Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly TD, has asked me to thank you for your recent correspondence inviting him to meet with you, on behalf of the Happy New Ear campaign, to discuss bilateral cochlear implants.

“Unfortunately due to a very busy schedule of Government and Departmental business, the Minister regrets that he will not be in a position to accede to your request.

?

Ms Murphy was furious at Minister Reilly’s response to their request and described it as a

“slap in the face

?.

Representatives from the Happy New Ear Campaign group have repeatedly requested meetings with the Minister since the group was established.

“He flat out refused to meet with us using the excuse of being too busy,

? Ms Murphy stormed.

“All we were asking for was 10 minutes of his time to explain how vital it is that the HSE performs bilateral cochlear implants which could be the difference between our children having quality of life or not.

“We understand if he’s busy this month or even next month but the fact that no date or time was suggested as suitable is a real slap in the face for us.

“We are working so hard to try to highlight this issue and we are up against the clock because every day lost is another day of nerve damage to our child’s auditory nerve which is irreparable.

“It’s galling that the Minister, who as a doctor himself should understand the situation we’re in, couldn’t clear 10 minutes in his upcoming schedule to meet us.

“He doesn’t have time apparently and the irony is that time is what we’re up against. It’s a complete race against time for us.

?

Three-and-a-half-year-old Anna Murphy, who was born profoundly deaf, knows the difference a cochlear implant can make, having had one successful implant last year.

While she has developed some hearing in one ear, she cannot recognise where sounds come from because of a lack of periphery hearing.

For this reason she shies away from busy and noisy environments because of how stressful and disconcerting they can be.