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HEARTENING NEWS
PEOPLE living with congenital heart disease are set to
benefit from better care as a result of new Government guidance
launched by Health
Minister Rosie Winterton today. The guidance, developed with
patients, patient groups and experts, highlights the importance of
access to specialist treatment for young people and adults with
congenital heart disease, also known as Grown Ups with Congenital
Heart Disease or GUCH). Designed for NHS commissioners and patients,
the guide will be a powerful driver of service improvement.
Thanks to improvements in techniques and new treatments in the 1980s
and 1990s, the survival rate of children with congenital heart
conditions into adulthood has improved significantly. There are now
more adults with the condition than children - some 135,000 in
England, of which about 17,000 have complex conditions. Although
many have complex conditions, they can expect to lead full lives
with
the right support.
The guidance provides advice and support for commissioners and
defines what patients and their families can expect from the NHS. It
aims to:
- ensure that patients are seen and treated by staff with
appropriate levels of expertise;
- help the NHS provide better transition between children's and
adult services;
-increase levels of awareness of congenital heart conditions in the
NHS; and lead to improved cohesion of services.
Visiting the Heart Hospital in London, one of the leading GUCH
centres in the country, Health Minister Rosie Winterton said:-
"Patients need a more cohesive service that recognises that
congenital heart disease is a life long condition which can affect
quality of life. This guidance will help to ensure that patients
receive consistent, expert and co-ordinated care from the NHS.
Specialists and patients have told us how important it is for
patients to see an expert in GUCH. Therefore, to deliver the best
possible service, and to ensure patients are treated by those
clinicians with experience of their condition, we are concentrating
expertise in a small number of specialist centres like this one at
the Heart Hospital, and are developing care plans between these
centres and more generalist locally based services."
The guide suggests indicators of high quality care. An example of an
indicator is in the area of transition between children's and adult
services. The guide suggests that every young person has a detailed
care plan setting out their follow up arrangements after leaving the
care of their paediatric cardiologist. Other indicators cover a
range of services including those provided in local centres, primary
care, and those for patients with special needs.
The guidance is published in the same week the British Heart
Foundation announce their annual statistics showing "the massive
progress" that has been made in tackling coronary heart disease
(disease of the arteries) in England. The National Service Framework
for Coronary Heart Disease was published in March 2000 to improve
the prevention, treatment, quality of care and access to care for
patients with coronary heart disease. One topic that the Framework
did not address was that of congenital heart disease which is an
abnormality of the heart present at birth. |
NAUTICAL NOVICES SET FOR TALL SHIPS CELEBRATIONS
THE 1ST wave of Liverpool youngsters to take part in a
special 3 year Tall Ships project are to take to the high seas this
week. A dozen nautical novices aged 16 to 23 from across the city
have been picked to participate in the 50th Anniversary Tall Ships
Race.
Selected from interviews by the Liverpool Culture Company, after
being nominated by their school or the city's youth services, they
take their first sailing lessons during a 3 day trip on the Irish
Sea aboard the training vessel The Greater Manchester Challenge.
Warmer climes await as the dozen split up for the prestigious race.
The first will cruise from Lisbon for La Coruna from 22 July 2006 to
8
August 2006 on board the Tall Ship Christian Radich, which also visits
Liverpool on 1 July to 2 July. The second group will race on the Tall Ships
Mir and Bark Europa, from La Coruna for Antwerp from 9 August to 21
August.
Funded by Liverpool city council's Children's Services, a new group
will be chosen to compete in the Tall Ships Race in 2007. The
project will climax in 2008 to celebrate Liverpool hosting the race
start in July.
More than 3,000 young sailors are expected to dock in the city for
what will be one of the highlights of the European Capital of
Culture year - with more than one million people expected to see the
fleet from July 18-21.
Paul Clein, Executive Member for Children's Services, said:-
''This Tall Ships training project is fantastic opportunity for our
youngsters - not just to learn maritime skills but about themselves
and other people and cultures. 'To have been selected is a
great achievement and I'm sure this group will be great ambassadors
for our city. I hope the race proves to be a life changing event for
them, and they take full advantage to broaden their horizons and
aspirations. 'I'm delighted we are using one of our major
European Capital of Culture events to provide Liverpool people with
such an amazing experience. I'm sure we'll be inundated for the 2008
race!''
The Tall Ships Race Liverpool Trainees chosen to sail the Tall Ship
Christian Radich are:-
* Laura Russell (16yrs) Speke
* Katie Bianca Pritchard (Williams) (16yrs) Speke
* Charlotte Deighton (18yrs) Childwall
* Craig Johnston (16) Speke
* Paul McLean (19) Wavertree
* Matthew Weston (Not Sailing) (19yrs) Garston
Those racing on the Tall Ships Mir and Bark Europa are:-
* Luke Moorhead (16yrs) Speke (Tall Ship Mir)
* Paul Brophy (22yrs) Childwall (Tall Ship Mir)
* Andrew Tomlinson (23yrs) Allerton (Tall Ship Mir)
* Joshua Bell (17yrs) Liverpool 6 (Tall Ship Bark Europa)
* Nick Wilsher (16yrs) Liverpool 17 (Tall Ship Bark Europa)
* Michael Dougan (18yrs) Liverpool 9 (Tall Ship Bark Europa) |
