Help raise funds for the Birmingham Children’s Hospital Heart Appeal
Congenital heart conditions are the most common birth defect in the UK. Around 5000 babies are born with a malformation of the heart each year. Of these, two out of three will survive beyond infancy. A further 1000 children will acquire a heart condition because of an illness or medical treatment that damages their heart.
Heart children are often small for their age and those who have surgery will have physical scars, but in other respects, it may not be obvious that they have a health condition. Whatever challenges they face, with interruptions to the usual childhood activities of playing and spending time with friends, going to school, going on holiday, growing up and looking forward to the future – heart children often talk about how they want to be treated like other children. And with good planning, support and creative thinking, heart children can share in the range of activities most of us take for granted.
Birmingham Children’s Hospital has launched a £2 million appeal to create the most advanced cardiac unit for children in the UK. The new ‘hybrid’ theatre will allow different procedures to be carried out on the same patient, in the same room, at the same time. This will mean more patients can be treated. Demand for cardiac services at BCH has increased dramatically over the past five years. In addition to increasing the number of patients that can be cared for, the new hybrid theatre will cut down the number of operations children often face. This means less stress on them and their families and less time in hospital, freeing up capacity for others. Some of the money raised will also be used to increase the number of intensive care unit beds available in the hospital from the current 20 to 31. This will reduce the need to send children to other hospitals. The total investment being made by the Hospital will be £12 million, of which £2 million is being sought from fundraising via the Appeal. It is expected that it will take the Hospital about a year to reach this fundraising target.
Young at Heart is encouraged by the news that the Children’s Hospital is taking this step to further help children with heart conditions. So many lives are saved every year by the dedicated cardiac team and this positive move is vitally important to safeguard even more lives. The Young at Heart charity has worked closely with the Hospital for 28 years, and gives its complete support to this Appeal.
For further details about the Heart Week and Appeal and how you can help raise awareness and fundraise, go to Birmingham Children’s Hospital at www.bch.org.uk
SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE PROGRAMME
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