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
The Cardiology Team at Alder Hey are very excited by the arrival of a few bugs in clinic. No, don’t worry, not those kind of bugs. These are buzzing plastic lady-bugs!! These friendly little creatures are designed to help take the pain out of needles. They work by using natural pain relief in the
Jessica Sellars (aged 14) was kind enough to let us take a photograph of her trying Buzzy. She had to have two injections, the first one was a while ago before we got our Ladybugs. When she had her second injection she tried “Buzzy” and said “it felt really cold on her arm but the second injection didn’t hurt as much as the first one”.
