University News Last updated 11 February
Life-saving support for babies with complex congenital heart disease will soon be available at the touch of a button, thanks to the development of a new monitoring and reporting app for parents.听
The project is co-led by 探花直播鈥檚 Kerry Gaskin, the UK鈥檚 first Professor of Congenital Cardiac Nursing.听
She says the mobile app has the power to transform support for parents of babies and children with complex congenital heart disease (CHD).听
鈥淚mproving care for children with congenital heart disease and their families is my passion, so I鈥檓 thrilled to be co-leading the development of this app,鈥� said Professor Gaskin, who also holds the position of Honorary Nurse Researcher at 探花直播 Children's Hospital.听
鈥淧arents will submit data from home in real time rather than waiting for check-ups, allowing cardiac nurse specialists to spot trends and intervene early to prevent deterioration.听
鈥淭hey'll also have remote access to consultants, via messaging and online appointments.鈥澨�
Globally, CHD affects born each year. In 2020, (55.3/10,000 births) and 38% had severe CHD.听听
Around . However, many things affect how the child will do, including other problems the child may have and the exact underlying heart diagnosis.听
The Congenital Heart Assessment Tool mobile app 鈥� known as CHAT2MA 鈥� will revolutionise home monitoring by empowering parents to track, spot, and report early warning signs.听
They will be able to use the app to share live updates and upload photos, allowing them to access immediate help from their cardiac team.听听
鈥淭he first year for these vulnerable babies is critical,鈥� said Professor Gaskin.听听
鈥淭hey have complex surgery in their first few days of life and before they鈥檙e 12 months old.听
鈥淏ut follow-up care currently varies across the country, so we鈥檙e working with other children鈥檚 cardiac centres to increase the availability of digital home monitoring using CHAT2MA.鈥澨�
Development of the app builds on the success of the paper-based CHAT diary, developed in 2012 with the support of families of babies undergoing specialist care at 探花直播 Children鈥檚 Hospital鈥檚 Cardiology Service and the charity Little Hearts Matter with parent representatives.听
鈥淎s health care providers, it鈥檚 essential we listen to families and give them a platform to 鈥榗hat鈥� and communicate openly with us,鈥� said Professor Gaskin. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what this tool is all about.听
鈥淧arents become the experts in their child鈥檚 condition. CHAT empowers them to feel prepared for discharge, understand what鈥檚 normal and what鈥檚 not, and use the same language as their clinical team when they call for help, for more timely interventions and better outcomes.鈥澨�
Funded by an NIHR i4i FAST grant, the prototype CHAT2MA app was co-developed by Professor Kerry Gaskin and Dr Chris Bowers in 2022, in collaboration with Professor Jo Wray (Great Ormond Street Hospital), Dr Anna Seale and Dr Tristan Ramcharan (探花直播 Women鈥檚 and Children鈥檚 Hospital), and Suzie Hutchinson (Little Hearts Matter).听听
Dr Tristan Ramcharan, Paediatric and Sport Cardiologist at 探花直播 Children鈥檚 Hospital, said: 鈥淭his application will be a game-changer for our clinicians and our patients.听听
鈥淲e鈥檝e been using the paper-based CHAT for several years to help parents of babies with complex CHD to understand what is normal and when to seek medical attention.听听
鈥淗aving an app will push the capability of this tool into the smart phone age, allowing parents to submit data for medical staff to check in real time. This will hopefully allow more children to be discharged and monitored at home 鈥� with the potential to be used across the UK.鈥澨�
Dr Chris Bowers, Department of Computing at the University of Worcester and project co-lead, said: 鈥淐HAT2MA is an example of how the careful and considered application of technology in very challenging and emotive circumstances can help not only improve outcomes for infants but also the experience of parents and healthcare professionals.鈥澨�
SPARK The Midlands, a global accelerator programme delivered by Aston University, is supporting the project with a 拢25,000 grant.听听
Luke Southan, Director of SPARK The Midlands, said: 鈥淭here is a clear, unmet clinical need to support patients born with complex heart problems. One of the single best ways we can do this is by enabling parents and carers to better understand, monitor, and manage these children.听
鈥淭he CHAT app is such a simple and intuitive solution. At SPARK, we think it鈥檚 imperative that we support it and ensure it gets into the hands of end users as quickly as possible.听
鈥淣ot only do we see long term benefits for the children, but we also believe the app can help improve the workflows of healthcare professionals.听听
鈥淯ltimately, it could act as a platform for supporting the monitoring needs of many other rare disease states bringing significant value to the NHS.鈥澨�
The app is undergoing development and testing ahead of launch in 2026-27.听听