Dr Camilla Kingdon has been appointed by the Secretary of State to chair an independent review of children’s hearing services.

Dr Camilla Kingdon has accepted a direct ministerial appointment by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
As a consultant neonatologist and former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), Dr Kingdon brings extensive expertise to the review

The Secretary of State, Wes Streeting, has commissioned an independent review of children’s hearing services and has appointed Dr Camilla Kingdon as its independent chair.

The review will consider:

the NHS England response to the service failures in paediatric audiology
how the relevant governance arrangements between NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) could be improved and identify lessons learned
how NHS England’s handling of any future service failures in similar services could be improved and identify lessons learned

Dr Kingdon brings extensive expertise to the review. She has been a consultant neonatologist at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital for over 20 years and until March last year she was President of RCPCH. She has an MA in Medical Careers Management and was Head of the London School of Paediatrics and Child Health for 5 years from 2014.

Dr Kingdon is also the independent chair of the NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Service National Provider Network for England, tasked with implementing the recommendations of the Cass Review (the independent review of gender identity services for children and young people) in England. She has been a non-executive director on the board at Great Ormond Street Hospital since January 2025, is chair of the UK Healthy Air Coalition, a coalition of charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working to tackle air pollution, and is a member of the NHS Assembly.

Background to the review

In December 2021, a report was published into service issues in paediatric audiology in NHS Lothian, which focused on whether children’s hearing tests were being conducted properly and effectively followed up.

Further issues with the diagnosis of hearing issues in newborns and children were identified in other Scottish NHS trusts in 2023. Subsequent assessment of NHS audiology services in paediatric departments across England in 2023 and 2024 identified similar problems. NHS England established the Paediatric Hearing Services Improvement Programme in 2023 to address the issues and oversee remedial action.

Kingdon review: terms of reference

Purpose

This review will consider the response of NHS England to the service failures in children’s hearing services (paediatric audiology).

In December 2021, a report was published about service issues in children’s hearing services in NHS Lothian. The report focused on whether children’s hearing tests were being conducted properly and effectively followed up.

The time period covered by this review, therefore, will be from December 2021 to March 2025 inclusive.

The review will make recommendations for action and identify lessons learned that are relevant to other health services.

Scope

The review will consider the response of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England to the service failures in children’s hearing services by:

assessing the timeliness, robustness and transparency of DHSC and NHS England’s response, including how the issues were identified, escalated, addressed and communicated to the public
conducting an assessment of the impact on the children affected, including hearing from affected families and those who have been involved in their treatment and support
evaluating, at a high level, NHS England’s Paediatric Hearing Services Improvement Programme, the plan for reviewing individual services and cases, and the actions being taken to ensure services meet the required clinical standards, including work with integrated care boards (ICBs)
providing recommendations to improve the ongoing response

The review will consider how the relevant governance arrangements between NHS England and DHSC could be improved and identify lessons learned by:

assessing the robustness of NHS England’s identification and oversight processes in this case, including communication and collaboration with DHSC, especially regarding early intervention, transparency and governance
providing recommendations to improve the handling of any future service issues and incidents

The review will consider how NHS England’s handling of any future service failures in similar services could be improved and identify lessons learned by:

considering how NHS England’s responsiveness to concerns raised by patients, families and clinical professionals in children’s health services can be improved, and DHSC’s role in this process
identifying a non-exhaustive list of factors that could make other health services prone to similar issues in future
providing recommendations to strengthen NHS England’s response to future service failures

Not in scope

Due to the short timeline for this review, it is not expected to:

conduct an assessment of the current performance of any individual services or consider in which services any future service issues may arise
make specific recommendations related to NHS England’s quality assurance processes or regulation for children’s hearing services or any other services

Main deliverables

The main deliverable will be a written report setting out the findings and recommendations of the independent review.

Timeline

This review will be conducted swiftly, with an initial report to be delivered within 3 months of the launch date of the review, ensuring lessons learned can be acted upon promptly.

Governance

The review will be chaired by an independent expert, Dr Camilla Kingdon, reporting directly to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Dr Camilla Kingdon to chair review of children's hearing services