Fin Hansen, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Seventeen years after receiving a cochlear implant, Bailey McNicholl has discovered his hearing could have been blocked by a flawed hospital system.

Bailey, originally of Kadina, received an implant when he was 6 years old, and, 17 years later, a review into the Women’s and Children’s Hospital Network’s (Adelaide) Cochlear Implant Program has exposed significant gaps within the service, including inadequate processes, policies and a lack of appropriate clinical training.

The faults resulted in the potential under-mapping of implants, meaning devices were incorrectly programmed in up to 208 recipients, including now 23-year-old Bailey.

Looking back, Bailey recalled several hearing challenges he experienced following his implant.

“When I was younger, I would often tell my parents the cochlear (CI device) wasn’t working or making a difference and I preferred the hearing aid,” Bailey said.

“I also did not particularly enjoy wearing the CI, as it was so painful to wear at times, to the point I could not bear it anymore.

“Knowing what we now know, this could have been due to the CI not being mapped to its full potential.”

Bailey’s implant mapping provider switched from WCH to the South Australian Cochlear Implant Centre when he turned 18 in 2017 and he has since been happier to wear his device.

Through his childhood, Bailey said he always believed he was hearing to his full potential.

“To find out (about the implant bungle) now after wearing the CI for 17 years feels like a big slap in the face,” he said.

“I have missed out on so much to the point people in the hearing world could not ever imagine.

“Not even my parents fully understand how much out I miss out on conversations and other things I cannot hear.

“I was often a lot more anxious than I needed to be, and I would stress out so much as I felt excluded from conversations with my peers due to not being able to hear the full conversation.”

Bailey said the recent review findings have made him question if his cognitive and social development could be further advanced.

“I can’t go back in time, but unfortunately the neurological pathways developed during my youth and adolescence have obviously been impacted,” he said.

Bailey’s father Ben recalled days when Bailey would choose to not hear at all rather than wear his CI.

“Although testing at the WCH suggested he was hearing through it, if he ever took his hearing aid off, he found it extremely difficult to understand what was said to him through his CI alone,” Ben said.

“As parents, we put his resistance to wearing the CI down to other factors – for example, he was implanted late, hadn’t adjusted to it, was self-conscious, et cetera – and we trusted the WCH system and what the experts were telling us.

“We now feel we probably didn’t take what Bailey was saying to us seriously enough when complaining about the CI or choosing not to wear it… obviously we feel terrible about this now knowing it may not have been doing anything for him.

“We’re devastated.

“It’s been 17 years, potentially all this time not having good access to sound… this will have had a profound impact on his life.

“We’ll never know what he could’ve achieved or how much easier his life would’ve been — it’s immeasurable.”

Keeping a positive outlook

Bailey graduated Kadina Memorial School in 2017 and now works at an Out of School Hours Care, in addition to being a bouldering coach and a disability support worker/mentor.

He is also studying to become a secondary school teacher and lives independently in Adelaide.

Making the most of the cards he was dealt, Bailey represented Australia in the U21 and Men’s World Deaf Basketball Championships in 2018 and 2019.

“I will always wonder what could have been; however, there’s only so much I can control and pondering on the ‘what ifs’ is not going to get me anywhere,” Bailey said.

“Without the full support of my parents, I’d find it hard to believe I would be in the position I am in today.

“My mum and dad (Sallyanne and Ben) changed their whole lives so they could give me the support I needed to be successful.

“I am very fortunate and it’s been a privilege to have lived the life I have, so it is hard for me to complain and feel like a victim of what has happened over the years.”

Ben said watching Bailey face so much adversity has made him and Sallyanne extremely proud.

“The research tells us he has defied the odds,” Ben said.

“Not many people with the level of deafness he has go on to tertiary education, and achieve what he has achieved.

“The issues with his CI have meant he has had to work so much harder, and we as parents had to spend many, many hours, months and years supporting him to get him where he is.

“Not only him and us but also his teachers, therapists, SSO support staff have all worked hard.”

The McNicholl family, along a state-wide group of parents, are planning to take legal action against the WCHN.

“We are unsure (what this would like still), but if it becomes a class action, we would potentially join that,” Ben said.

The McNicholls could receive an initial $50,000 compensation payment from the state government, pending the outcome of a clinical review.

The payment would not replace the family’s full compensation rights, nor would it affect any decision to take legal action.

This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 5 September 2023.