A NETWORK that provides expertise in the treatment of congenital heart disease at Airedale Hospital has been commended for its services.

The Yorkshire and Humber Congenital Heart Disease Network works to improve care for patients from birth through to adulthood.

It provides services to 20 hospitals, including Airedale, covering a total population of 5.6 million.

The network is hosted by Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust as its cardiac specialist centre.

In a review carried out by NHS England, the scheme is praised across a number of fields.

A report says the network is recognised by many in cardiac services throughout England as leading on the development of networking, sharing achievements and lessons learned

Tribute is paid to the levels of training offered throughout the Yorkshire and Humber region across the various disciplines involved with the care of heart disease patients.

And the network is commended for its efforts to reduce the number of patients who fail to present for follow-up when they make the transition from childhood to adult.

An audit carried out in 2017 showed that between six per cent and 17 per cent of those in the 15-to-19 age group, making the switch to the adult service, didn’t attend for follow-up.

The network has set-up initiatives to tackle the problem, including establishing adult clinics closer to patients’ homes and organising transition evenings for young people and families to meet the adult teams that will be looking after them.

Network manager, Debra Wheeler, said she was pleased with the outcome of the review.

She added: “Our priorities going forward will focus on developing telemedicine facilities, image transfer and electronic patient records to improve communication and participation across the network.

“We remain committed to making this network the best in the country, where our patients have access to the highest-quality congenital heart disease care irrespective of age or where they live.”

NHS England says the demographic profile of the population covered by the network is “very mixed”, ranging from densely-populated urban areas with significant pockets of deprivation to sparsely-populated rural communities and isolated coastal fringes.