To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect all paediatric audiology services in England to be accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service's Improving Quality in Physiological Services scheme, and what plans they have to increase accreditation of audiology services nationally.

There is no NHS England national target set for when all services will be accredited, as the process for achieving accreditation for an individual service can take a number of years. NHS England recognises the United Kingdom Accreditation Service’s (UKAS) Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) scheme as the only recognised accreditation standard for physiological science services. This includes audiology services and provides not only independent and impartial assurance of safe, high-quality services, but also the evidence needed for the Care Quality Commission’s regulatory purposes. In August 2023, NHS England recommended that all integrated care boards ensure that provider organisations work towards the UKAS IQIPS accreditation for paediatric audiology.

NHS England has worked with the UKAS to implement an updated process to support the early assessment of an individual site's readiness for achieving accreditation. NHS England is also working alongside the UKAS to support and enable more sites to successfully achieve accreditation. The 2024/25 National Health Service standard contract now includes the recommendation that all providers of paediatric audiology should work with their local commissioners to develop a Service Development Improvement Plan that will address the areas of quality concern, to allow all paediatric audiology services to move towards UKAS accreditation against the IQIPS standard.