We’ve added a page listing contact information for the UK cardiac centres, also linked from the Information menu above.
Information Day 2015
Confirmed speakers to include antenatal diagnosis and care, holiday worries, how to talk to your children about the heart, vaccines for heart kids, how to use an automatic defibrillator, and advances in surgery.
There are special sessions for dads, new parents, older children, and grown up heart kids, with stalls from other heart charities.
This is a free event, with lunch included and free parking but, as places are limited, we do ask that you live in the North West or receive care from Alder Hey or Manchester cardiac units.
For more details and booking check out the event page heartchild.info/infoday.
Research into Parents’ Experiences of Administering Painful and/or Invasive Procedures
A team from the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York, funded by WellChild, are conducting research into the administration of painful and/or invasive procedures by parents of children with long-term health conditions. This research is running from May 2014 to October 2015 and they are looking for support from parents who may be able to provide their own experiences of this.
They would like to better understand your experiences of undertaking the procedure, being trained to do the procedure, managing your child’s reactions to the procedures, how you think undertaking these procedures affects you, your child and your family, and any support needs arising from this.
If you feel that you could help with the research, further information is available at http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/research/pdf/PEAPIPinf.pdf.
Alternatively, contact Gemma Spiers on 01904 321984, or at gemma.spiers@york.ac.uk.
Happy Summer Dayz
Our Association was selected as part of the One Stop and Mondelez (formerly Cadburys) ‘Happy Summer Dayz” campaign which ran from 15th July 2014 to 13th August 2014. During this time, those who won the One Stop store family days out competitions could nominate a charity to receive a donation to the same value as their prize.
In all, there were five charities that could be nominated, including the Children’s Heart Association, and we received an super total of £278. Thank you to all those who supported us! We look forward to using the money towards family events in the near future.
Pulse Oximetry Screening Recommendation
The Children’s Heart Federation (chfed.org.uk) have been campaigning for all babies to receive the Pulse Oximetry test at birth to detect Congenital Heart Disease. This quick, painless and cheap test measures oxygen levels in blood and can detect over 90% of critical heart defects in newborns.
The UK National Screening Committee has now recommended the use of Pulse Oximetry Screening on newborns and has announced today there will be a national pilot. Here are links to the announcement:
http://www.chfed.org.uk/babies-are-set-to-receive-heart-test-to-save-lives/
The announcement is receiving some media interest and has appeared on the Telegraph online:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10813377/All-newborns-to-undergo-heart-tests.html
Win free places at the CHF Dragon Boat Challenge
The Children’s Heart Federation are giving away a friends and family place at their exciting Dragon Boat Race day in London on Sunday 18th May.
Your group of family, friends or colleagues will enjoy a fun day of rowing down the river Thames (no experience necessary). As well as a BBQ and a bar there is a full day of entertainment with magicians, street performances, face painters, and much more!!
Details on how to enter the competition can be found here but note that the closing date is 5pm, Wednesday 30th April. Winners will be drawn at random.
If you are not a lucky winner, you can still register for their fantastic Dragon Boat Race Day and get more information by visiting the CHF Dragon Boat page.
Good luck!