Parents of baby says Alder Hey heart monitoring app has given them their life back

Video report by Granada Reports correspondent Rob Smith

Two Kendal parents who's baby spent six months in hospital with heart problems, say an innovation by medics has given them their family life back.

Beth and Christian Rengers daughter Matilda was diagnosed with complex heart issues that required surgery to fix a hole in her heart.

A new app designed at Alder Hey Children's Hospital means she can now be looked after at home. Called Little Hearts at Home, it means Matilda's vital stats can be remotely submitted to a team in Liverpool to monitor.

Beth said: "It's made a massive difference. The app means the nurses can come out twice a week to home, they can ping through all the data to Alder Hey and the cardiologists know what's going on.

"It's cut out the endless back and forth visits. It gives reassurance that she is safe to be at home.

"She's a seven month baby, she wants to be busy and be out and about. We're now catching up on the six months we lost as a family at home.

"It feels like the app has given us our life back.

Christian: "We're used to life in the lakes and the hills going for dog walks. You can't really do that in hospital.

"We're just in survival mode to get through."

Dr Phuoc Duong, a Cardiologist at the hospital said: "When we send them home we know that they are safely looked after. They have good vital signs."

The Innovation Hub at Alder Hey is designed to speed up the pace of development of standards in children's healthcare.

Claire Liddy, Director of Innovation said: "The shift for us is in preventative health and we dream of happening is using technology to prevent disease."

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