Paediatric hearing services

The paediatric hearing services department provides hearing assessments for children from birth up to 16 years of age. We are based at the hearing services department at Leicester Royal Infirmary, with additional clinics held at various outreach locations for your convenience.

All clinics are staffed by qualified audiologists and are delivered in two parts:

Who can refer?

Referrals to the Paediatric Hearing Services Department at Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) are accepted only from hospital consultants and departments.

  • GPs and Health Visitors should refer children to the Community Audiology Team at Bridge Park Plaza, where initial hearing assessments will take place. If further testing is needed, Community Audiology may refer the child to LRI as appropriate.
  • Infants under 3 months of age with a significant risk or concern of hearing loss should be referred directly to the Electro Diagnostic Service (EDS) at LRI, rather than Hearing Services.

Reasons for referral

Children may be referred for hearing tests for various reasons, including:

  • Follow-up requested after a newborn hearing screen (typically at 8–10 months of age)
  • Increased risk of hearing problems due to conditions such as:
    • Cleft palate
    • Down’s syndrome
    • Family history of progressive hearing loss
    • Unilateral (unaided) hearing loss
  • Monitoring hearing in children with syndromes or developmental delays
  • To rule out hearing loss as part of a speech and language therapy assessment
  • At the request of an ENT consultant
  • Parental concern about hearing

What to expect at the appointment

Appointments typically last around 30 minutes. We run two types of clinics, based on developmental age:

  • Pre-school children
  • School-age children

During the appointment:

  • You’ll be asked about your child’s hearing, development, and general health
  • Your child must be awake for the behavioural hearing assessment
  • Results will be discussed with you at the end of the session

To ensure accurate testing, the room must be quiet. If possible, please arrange childcare for any siblings, as they should not attend the appointment.

Specialist & complex clinics

We also offer extended appointments (up to 90 minutes) for children with additional auditory concerns, including:

  • Tinnitus (noises in the ears)
  • Hyperacusis (sensitivity to sounds)
  • Auditory processing difficulties, where hearing loss has already been ruled out

These appointments focus on understanding the issue and exploring management strategies to support the child.

Referrals for hearing aid assessment are accepted from health or education professionals, following an appropriate hearing test. We also accept parental referrals if your child is already wearing hearing aids and you are transferring their care to our service due to relocation.

What to expect at the appointment
Appointments are approximately 90 minutes long and include:
A full hearing assessment
Discussion about your child’s hearing needs and hearing loss
Review and potential reprogramming of hearing aids
Testing to confirm whether the hearing aids are providing sufficient benefit
Time for any questions or concerns
Your child’s Teacher of the Deaf may also attend this appointment.
Please bring your child’s hearing aids to every appointment.

Importance of early intervention
Early intervention is crucial in supporting your child’s development:
For children born with a hearing loss, fitting hearing aids before 6 months of age is essential to reduce the risk of delays in speech and language development.
For children diagnosed with hearing loss at a later age, starting hearing aid use as soon as possible helps support speech, communication, and learning during key developmental stages.
Whether the hearing loss is temporary or permanent, timely support ensures your child has the best opportunity to thrive.

Appointments

  • We aim to see all children for their initial appointment within six weeks of receiving a referral, unless the referrer has specified otherwise.
  • Attending all scheduled appointments is very important, as hearing difficulties can impact your child’s speech, language, and overall development.
  • If you are unable to attend a hearing test appointment, please let us know as soon as possible. Failure to attend without notice may mean a new appointment cannot be offered without a new referral.
  • If you miss a hearing aid appointment, a follow-up will be offered, but please be aware that this may result in a longer wait time.
  • Interpreter services: if you require an interpreter for your child’s appointment, please let us know in advance so we can arrange this for you.

Contact details

Phone:
07950889139 (phone/text)
Email address:
[email protected]
Address:

Paediatric Hearing Services Team, Hearing Service’s Building
Leicester Royal Infirmary
Infirmary Square
Leicester
LE1 5WW

Clinic locations and outreach services

While our main base is at the Hearing Services Department at Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI), we also run clinics at various outreach locations across the region.

Please note that these outreach clinics do not operate every day of the week. All appointment bookings and general enquiries — regardless of location — should be directed to the hearing services department at LRI.