SONOGRAPHERS at York Hospital have received vital training to help them detect the signs of congenital heart disease in the youngest of patients.

The Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF) has given partner charity Tiny Tickers a £17,000 grant to fund fetal cardiac sonography training across the Yorkshire region.

The mother of a ten-year-old boy who was born with a congenital heart defect but is now in good health after surgery has welcomed the training.

Lisa Moore, of Marton Cum Grafton, near Boroughbridge, said her son Louis’ heart condition might have been spotted before he was born if it had been offered ten years ago.

She said: “Louis has had two major heart operations, one as a 9 week old baby and the second aged 6.

“Since the second op, Louis is doing amazingly well in life and at school, and at his last check up we were told he didn’t need to be seen for two years, which is an amazing feeling when we have spent a lot of time going back and forth to LGI over the years.

“For us, the real difference is his energy, he is so much happier being active and he no longer feels the cold.

“When your child has been through what Louis has, you will always have a small part of you that worries, but that worry is so much less than it ever was because he is just a fun loving, happy 10-year-old.”

She said Louis’s condition was not detected until after he was born and even then she had no idea how serious it was until they went for a check up with Dr Brown at LGI when he was nine weeks old, at which point he was starting to be unwell.

“Had the sonographer training been available when Louis was in utero , they would have detected a problem and would have been able to help him as soon as he was born.”

A fund spokesman said timely detection of congenital heart disease had been shown to make a huge difference, and the partnership would improve the chances of survival and long-term quality of life for hundreds of babies.

“The training covers the most up-to-date NHS recommendations on what sonographers should look for when examining the heart as part of the 20-week scan,” he said.

“This specialist fetal cardiac training enhances the confidence and skills sonographers need to detect heart defects during pregnancy scans.

“The two charities worked together on a similar project in 2016 resulting in training for 226 sonographers, and another great result is expected this time around.”

Anne Rhodes, the Head of Training of Tiny Tickers said:“It is an absolute pleasure to be able to work together again with Children’s Heart Surgery Fund to provide our sonographer training across Yorkshire.”

“Our training is always very well received and recent studies have shown that the antenatal detection rate of CHD has increased due to regional training programmes such as this.”

Fund CEO Sharon Milner thanked supporters for helping to fund more life-saving training.