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Rehabilitation Quality Standards for Children with Cochlear Implants

According to CRIDE 2021 there were 3,907 children with at least one cochlear implant in England known to services (4,501 across the UK) which equates to 77% of children with profound hearing loss. In addition 2,966 children have a bone conduction device. For 2022 the British Cochlear Implant Group (BCIG) recorded the total for all children with Cochlear Implants, being supported by centres, as being 6,265. 440 children were fitted in 2021-2022. Most of these were fitted bilaterally. (It is likely that the number for centres will be larger than those known to SI services).

BCIG have recently updated their Quality Standard on Cochlear Implants including important sections on clinical practice, assessment and rehabilitation. The new guidance covering adults and children can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14670100.2023.2197344.  A recent BCIG guide for Rehabilitation professionals, working in an Implant Centre can also be found here; www.bcig.org.uk/_userfiles/pages/files/bcig_professional_guidelines_for_rehabilitation_staff.pdf

These standards a guides give a very good insight into what HI professional working with children with Cochlear Implants should be able to expect from implant services to support children in the UK.

For more general guidance about Cochlear Implants and information on eligibility criteria for a CI the NICE guidance can be accessed here; https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta566

There has also been a significant research programme on Quality standards in Europe, using the Delphi method to find consensus across a wide range of professionals. These standards are outlined in the published report "Quality Standard for Rehabilitation of Young Deaf Children Receiving Cochlear Implants". This is available online at; https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/59/7/1354, PDF at: https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/59/7/1354/pdf. The project has a website with other resources for parents and professionals at; https://voice-erasmus.eu/

As the guidance states “Rehabilitation appears as an essential factor in predicting the outcomes” of children with CIs.