Girl (9) who alleged a delay in diagnosing her hearing loss settles case for €300,000

A 9-year-old girl whose hearing loss was not picked up for over three years has settled her High Court action for €300,000.

Shirley Collins had her first hearing test when she was just over a year old but was only diagnosed with mild to moderate hearing loss when she had another test at age four, the High Court heard.

It was claimed there were a number of failures in the child’s early audiological management.

Her counsel, Hugh O Keeffe SC with Doireann O’Mahony BL, said it was their case that the girl’s speech and language may be affected due to the delay in diagnosis.

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He said the girl is one of a number of children identified in a Health Service Executive review of audiology services in the west of the country between 2011 and 2015.

The HSE later apologised for failures identified in paediatric audiology services in Mayo and Roscommon. It found 49 children out of 995 cases had been affected. Thirteen children were retested and found to have hearing loss.

Shirley, from Ballina, Co Mayo, had sued the HSE through her mother, Michelle Collins.

The HSE admitted a breach of duty in the case in relation to the delay in diagnosis but denied all other claims.

Shirley was tested when she was nine months for hearing as part of a developmental health check. She failed it and was referred to the audiology service at Mayo University Hospital.

It was claimed an audiometric assessment took place at the hospital in June 2014 when she was over a year old. It was contended there were a number of alleged failures in that assessment.

She was diagnosed with normal hearing and no pure tone testing of any kind was attempted, it was claimed.

She was recalled for a further test in 2017 and diagnosed with mild to moderate hearing loss.

It was claimed had Shirley’s hearing loss been identified in the first hospital test in 2014, she would have had a comprehensive audiological management plan in place including liaison with speech and language services. She got little ventilation tubes called grommets inserted into her ears in May 2018 and her mother reported that her hearing improved.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey said it was a fair and reasonable settlement and he wished the girl and her family all the best for the future.