20-month-old Orla from Lancaster, who was born with life life-threatening congenital heart condition, has been honoured at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Heart Hero Awards in London.
At one week old, Orla was diagnosed with a serious congenital heart condition called double outlet right ventricle fallout type. This is where her aorta and pulmonary artery are connected to the heart’s right ventricle (chamber) instead of the left. This means the right side of the heart has to do the work of both sides, which can lead to mixed blood flow and problems in delivering oxygen-rich blood to the body.
Orla underwent open-heart surgery at Alder Hey to fit a shunt (small tube), that helped her blood flow in the right direction. At 17 days old, she was then allowed to go home with her parents Alice and Adam, due to the Little Heart at Home monitoring service, developed by Alder Hey.
Little Hearts at Home is a home-monitoring service developed by Alder Hey and funded by the Alder Hey Children’s Charity and British Heart Foundation. It allows families to monitor their baby’s health safely at home, with all the readings sent directly to our clinicians. This service allowed Orla to be in the comfort of her home, whilst being monitored remotely by clinicians.
Orla’s mum, Alice, said: “When you have your baby, all you want to do is go home and start your life together. This is what Little Hearts At Home allowed us to do with the huge reassurance that if any of Orla’s reading caused concern that we would get an immediate response from the clinicians involved in her care. It was wonderful to attend the award ceremony and for Orla to receive her Heart Hero award alongside the amazing innovation team from Alder Hey, who were with us on the night. It was very emotional and a very special evening for us all.”
The impact of Little Hearts at Home on us as a family has been incalculable.”
Orla’s mum, Alice
Jemma Blake, Little Hearts at Home Programme Manager, said:”Little Hearts at Home is about more than just data, it’s about giving families and children with complex congenital heart conditions a chance to bring their children home safety, whilst still managing the very managing their clinical safety. Connecting parent, community nurses and cardiac specialists through real time monitoring, we can detect early warning signs and intervene before emergencies arise.
At Alder Hey Innovation, we believe that real breakthroughs in paediatric care comes when clinicians, families and technologists work together, listening to lived experiences and designing solutions that address real world challenges.
Little Hearts at home was developed in collaboration with our cardiac team, community nurses and families themselves.”
Find out more about Little Heart at Home