Catherine Magee

My journey in audiology started after completing a BSc in Biology. During my final year at university, I sought careers advice and was directed towards a newly established MSc program in Audiology in Manchester. But I’d had enough of student living, so I moved home and temped across various jobs for a while, eventually securing an administrative role within the local audiology department.  Shortly after starting, an opportunity arose for an audiology trainee position, and I successfully obtained the role. I was part of one of the final cohorts to undergo training through the BAAT I & II programs. Following a couple of years working with adults, I transitioned into the field of paediatrics, and found what I love.

I have worked with routine, complex, and highly complex children, paediatric hearing aids and ABR assessments, albeit not all simultaneously.  Interspersed with this,  I spent 12 years managing a team of newborn hearing screeners, which not only provided me with valuable leadership experience but also allowed me to engage in MSc level learning.

Presently, I hold the position of an enhanced paediatric audiologist at the Northern Care Alliance. I am responsible for delivery of an audiology-led aetiology pathway.  I am also the clinical project lead for the newborn hearing screening program in NHSE, working with the national programme team to oversee NHSP at a national level.  I am passionate about making the journey for the child and family from screening to diagnosis and intervention as good as it can possibly be, to enable the children we identify to have the life opportunities they rightfully deserve.

As in my work life, in my personal life I wear many hats, I am a mum, a wife, a daughter, a sister and an aunty to an amazing family and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them. When I do manage some free time, my soul is fed by sitting with some crochet, a mug of tea (or wine), something good on the TV or a book.