WCH cochlear implant scandal widens with more families eligible for payouts

The WCH cochlear implant scandal has widened with even more families now eligible to receive a one-off $50,000 payment – and still take legal action.

Families significantly affected by the cochlear implant scandal receiving the maximum $50,000 ex-gratia payment have soared from 30 to 45.

This follows an independent review by audiology service NextSense which saw an additional 107 families have full assessments, resulting in the additional families receiving the payments.

The payments do not stop families from taking their own legal action – and several are known to be doing so on behalf of children facing significant problems, including learning difficulties after their implants were not properly “mapped” for the best result.

As well as the 45 families receiving the $50,000 payment, another 94 have received $5000 payments taking the total to $2.7m so far.

All patients involved in the program from 2006 until August 2023 are eligible for ex-gratia payments of $5000 for any stress caused, regardless of whether they participated in the independent clinical review.

The earliest case to receive the maximum ex-gratia payment dates to 2010.

Dale and Lauren Smedley with their children Reid and Logan. The family say failure to turn up Logan’s cochlear implants over four years caused delays in his hearing and speech. Picture: Ben Clark

The fiasco – one of the worst in SA Health history which also has major scandals involving chemotherapy, prostate cancer and breast cancer patients – continued for years, despite a growing number of families raising the alarm.

Families worried about their child’s progress were fobbed off with comments such as their child is just “slow”, an independent report found.

It made 59 recommendations which are all being implemented while the NextSense report adds another seven.

The Women’s and Children’s Health Network (WCHN) cochlear implant program has added six new staff comprising two audiologists, two speech pathologists, a social worker and a specialist supporting improved communication with patients, families and external providers.

WCHN has offered NextSense reviews to anyone prior to 2006, of which 27 people have taken up this offer — at this stage there has not been any evidence identified of mapping errors in this cohort of patients.

The first song eight-year-old Gracie Vandenberg, who could not hear for the first seven years of her life due to the cochlear implant disaster, heard was Taylor Swift's 'Look What You Made Me Do'. Picture: Supplied by family

Health Minister Chris Picton said: “I was deeply upset that over previous decades a number of South Australian children were failed by a public hospital service”.

“That’s why I ordered an independent review to make sure we received the full picture of what caused these issues going back to 2006. I reiterate our sincere apology to these families who have been impacted over the past two decades.

“We are doing the work to fix the problems of the past, with impacted families at the forefront of our mind in everything we do.

“I want to assure families that we are completely overhauling the service and sparing no expense or effort to ensure that children can receive safe and appropriate care.”

However Opposition leader David Speirs accused Mr Picton and the government of a “cover up” and claimed the debacle was only fully exposed after frustrated whistleblower families sought help from the Opposition.

“They did not actively put information into the public arena,” he said.

“It was very difficult to get the government to expand the scope of the review.”

WCHN chief executive Rebecca Graham acknowledged the impact that issues with cochlear implant mapping has had on families and was working to ensure it never happens again.

“We are truly sorry to those families who were affected. This is not the standard of care we expect or that we currently provide at WCHN,” she said.

“We are making certain that our Paediatric Cochlear Implant Program has the right support to provide our families, who are the experts in their child’s care with the highest quality services.”