Dunedin Hospital has apologised to the Otago Association for Deaf Children for ignoring its concerns about audiology failings.
The Otago Daily Times recently reported the association had lobbied Dunedin Hospital management under the then Otago District Health Board for years about problems in the department.
The association spoke publicly after a deputy Health and Disability Commissioner finding detailing one case came out last month.
The association had written to the board in 2005, following up in subsequent years, expressing concern at the lack of progress. Association co-secretary Barbara O'Neill said senior Southern District Health Board manager Lynda McCutcheon had since met the association and apologised on behalf of the hospital.
Ms McCutcheon, the board's allied health, scientific and technical director, listened and ''didn't try to put a spin on anything'', Mrs O'Neill said.
''She did say how awful she personally felt about how families were treated and offered an apology on behalf of the hospital.
''Lynda also made the offer to talk personally with any of the families that still felt traumatised by the service they had received, which I think will go a long way to easing some of the bitterness and frustration that they still feel,'' Mrs O'Neill said.
Ms McCutcheon, responding through a board spokeswoman, said she was pleased to have met the association and discussed its concerns.
