Newcastle Hospitals Clinical Skills Academy

Improving clinical practice in Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) - July 2025
2025-07-02 08:30 - 16:00 (Europe/London) | Freeman Hospital (FH), Freeman Road, High Heaton,, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE7 7DN, United Kingdom
Fetal, paediatric and adult congenital cardiology is a rapidly developing field of medicine – with advances in healthcare 98.5% of those born with congenital heart disease can be expected to survive to adulthood.
Congenital heart disease (CHD) patients often require lifelong care, and training ensures healthcare professionals can manage their needs effectively throughout different life stages, from infancy to adulthood.
Education tailored specifically to CHD supports professionals to effectively manage, care for and support patients navigating complex comorbidities thus, empowering patients to live fulfilling lives. This is particularly important in community cardiology, and emergency departments where supporting a CHD patient can seem daunting if not your area of expertise.
We know that CHD training contributes to improved patient outcomes, including reduced morbidity and mortality, and enhanced quality of life – our Improving Clinical Practice in Congenital Heart Disease course will enable healthcare professionals to provide optimal care.
Quality assured
Our four-day programme provides a quality assured qualification and provision of a Certificate of Achievement in Improving Clinical Practice in Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).
Covering all aspects of a CHD patient’s life-long journey, from fetal diagnosis to elder years, our experts focus on informing best practice and promoting the right care at the right time.
We’ve received great feedback with previous delegates telling us they feel they have greatly benefited from gaining the knowledge and skills required to feel confident to manage the care of the patient with CHD.
Course dates

Date
Topic

Wednesday 2 July 2025
Introduction – the CHD ‘Roadmap’

Thursday 3 July 2025
From diagnosis to outcome – the care pathway

Thursday 10 July 2025
Navigating the CHD pathway

Friday 11 July 2025
Life beyond the diagnosis

Course delivery
The course is appropriate for all healthcare professionals who may find themselves involved in the care of patients with CHD.
Inpatient, outpatient and community care providers across all professional groups are welcome, bringing with them a range of expertise from their professional practice.
To enable interested colleagues to participate in our course, we are offering two methods of delivery:

Face to face at the Freeman Hospital for those working the North East and North Cumbria region – fee is £520
Online via MS Teams for those working further afield – fee is £375

Learning outcomes
At the end of the course delegates will recognise and understand:

the physiology of the normal heart and developing fetus in utero alongside the anatomy and physiology of common basic CHD lesions,
the complexities and pathway for diagnostic fetal imaging, interventional cardiology, the expected outcomes and approach to counselling,
normal ECG and common arrhythmias in CHD and the range of cardiac imaging approaches in the diagnosis and ongoing management including staged surgical options,
the pathophysiology of pulmonary hypertension with associated CHD,
the common pharmacological strategies and complex nutritional requirements throughout a CHD patient’s life.

They will also gain knowledge and understanding of:

the process of transportation and the importance of preparation and communication,
pre-operative and post-operative care, exploring complexities and challenges of managing the child with CHD,
advanced, complex pathways for transplantation, extracorporeal life support and fontan surveillance,
how to navigate ethical dilemmas and difficult and challenging conversations,
the transition into adult services, the psychological impact on health and wellbeing for the patient and their family, and end of life care.

Audience
This course would benefit any healthcare professional who may become involved in the care of a patient with CHD along their lifelong journey from neonates to adult care. They may work on a ward, in outpatients, emergency departments or children’s or adult community care settings.
Listen to Kaye Walsh, Lead Nurse with North East & North Cumbria Congenital Heart Disease Network explain why this course is so important 👇

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-hCVc1vUcQ
Payment

Payments should where possible be made via the online booking system.
If you request an invoice at the point of booking, invoice payment terms are strictly 30 days from the invoice date or 7 days before the start of the programme whichever date is the earliest.
Cancellation and refunds policy
Should you no longer be able to attend the event on the booked date, please contact the Academy as we may be able to offer an alternative date subject to an admin charge.
Should you still wish to cancel your booking, you or your employer will be charged as per the fees outlined below. Please contact nuth.newcastlehospitalsskillsacademy@nhs.net to cancel your place.

Timescale
Fee paying course

Over 6 weeks
£25 admin charge

2 to 6 weeks
50% of course fee

0 to 2 weeks
100% of course fee

If you do not attend on the day, you will be charged the full cost of the event place.
See our Terms & Conditions and Cancellations & Refunds pages for more details.
Booking
To book a place on this course go to Tickets at the bottom of the page. Please note that this course has a pre-course assignment therefore tickets are available upto 4 weeks before the start of the course.
At checkout you can make an online card payment or enter a coupon code to make alternative payment arrangements.
Alternative payment arrangements include:

requesting an invoice (INVOICE),
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust staff internal funding (NUTH) – you will need to complete a Trust study leave form.

Please see the Making payments & Coupons sections of the Help and FAQs.
