About Us
The West Midlands Congenital Heart Disease Network includes the world-renowned specialist surgical centres at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, along with local congenital heart centres across the West Midlands region.
Our network helps bring our teams together to coordinate care as well as being a voice for this important service with NHS bodies within the region and nationally.
Just under 1 in 100 babies are born with some sort of heart problem, from the more complicated defects such as hyperplastic left heart to simpler single lesions such as septal defects. Every patient with a congenital heart defect will be affected in a variety of ways, whether they just need monitoring or require significant surgical procedures.
Many patients are diagnosed while still in the womb, as part of ultrasound scans during pregnancy. And are supported by the specialist foetal cardiology service, with many others diagnosed shortly after birth. However, some conditions can be picked up later in life, including in adulthood.
Children’s care is led by the team at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, made up of cardiologists, surgeons, nurse specialists, physiologists, and others. All heart surgery on intervention through a catheter (keyhole) will be performed at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital. In addition to the team at the Children’s Hospital, ongoing care is provided by local children’s centres. through our network of paediatricians with expertise in cardiology. Alongside children with congenital heart disease, the service also cares for children with the full range of other heart conditions such as heart rhythm problems, inherited cardiac conditions, and conditions of the aorta.
Inpatient care is delivered in:
- Ward 11 – Neonates and infants with cardiac conditions
- Ward 12 – Children and teenagers with cardiac conditions
- PICU – Intensive Care Unit
Adult care is led by the team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, with cardiologists and nurse specialists, physiologists. Surgery for adult patients is performed by the same surgeons the children, who operate at the Queen Elizabeth and catheter interventions (keyhole). Like for children, ongoing care is delivered along with a network of local centres [link to list of centres with cardiologists with an interest in adult congenital heart disease, who work with visiting ACHD consultants from the Queen Elizabeth. Additionally, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is a transplant unit offering cardiac transplants to patients with congenital heart disease in conjunction with congenital cardiac surgeons.
Inpatient care is delivered in:
- Ward 304 – Cardiology
- Ward 306 – Cardiac Surgery
- A mbulatory Care Unit – Daycase and one-night stay planned procedures
- Critical Care Area D – Cardiac Intensive Care Unit