Respiratory

Our respiratory team provides care for children with respiratory conditions across the North West and North Wales. Our multidisciplinary team cares for patients admitted to Alder Hey, as well as running 28 specialised outpatient clinics. We are also very dedicated to research and committed to finding better, safer treatments and interventions for patients.

Our services

More information about:

Asthma clinics 

We run five multidisciplinary clinics every week for children and young people with asthma. We have an evening adolescent asthma clinic, and we see children with asthma that is difficult to control.

Patients are referred by other paediatricians in Liverpool, the North West and North Wales.

What happens when I come to the clinic?

Patients will have their height and weight measured. If a child is five years or older, we will measure their lung function, looking at how much air they can blow out and how quickly.

Children will be seen by the doctor and the asthma nurse specialist and if they have asthma your family will be given asthma education, a management plan and review of your child’s inhaler technique.

The asthma team work closely with the allergy team at Alder Hey.

Further information

Asthma UK is a charity dedicated to improving the health and well-being of people whose lives are affected by asthma.

Cystic fibrosis clinics 

The cystic fibrosis (CF) clinic at Alder Hey runs every Wednesday morning.

Clinics are organised according to which bacteria children grow on cough swabs and there is also an Early Years clinic for younger children.

Cystic fibrosis network

Alder Hey provides shared care together with a network of 12 district general hospitals across the North West, North Wales and the Isle of Man looking after over 280 children and their families. The multidisciplinary team from Alder Hey joins the local team in over 42 peripheral clinics per year. The CF shared-care clinical network established by Alder Hey is described as one of the best models of CF care in the UK.

We have close links with the adult cystic fibrosis team at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital who look after all adults with cystic fibrosis in the region.

What happens when I come to the clinic?

Patients will have their height and weight measured. If a child is five years or older, we will measure their lung function, looking at how much air they can blow out and how quickly.

Children will be seen by a dietitian, physiotherapist, doctor or nurse specialist and patients can also see a psychologist. When you see the physiotherapist, a cough swab or sputum sample will be taken.

Sometimes we offer an opportunity to participate in research projects which might be a local or national study. This helps us find out more about cystic fibrosis and how it affects children and young people.

Further information

The CF Trust is the UK’s national cystic fibrosis charity and provides information and support for children and their families.

Respiratory physiotherapy 

Respiratory physiotherapy is an important part of many children’s hospital stay but we also see outpatients and children in the community.

We see a wide range of respiratory conditions including cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, primary cilia dyskinesia, chest infections, neuro-respiratory conditions such as cerebral palsy, Retts syndrome, and children with complex needs.

Respiratory physiotherapy helps to treat children with acute chest infections as well as managing long-term conditions. We help to maximise a child’s potential by relieving breathlessness, enhancing the cough mechanism, clearing secretions, and improving exercise tolerance and rehabilitation.