Alder Hey is celebrating 75 years of children’s cardiac surgery in Liverpool, marking a remarkable milestone in the city’s history of pioneering heart care.
Staff past and present, young patients and their families recently came together to reflect on the incredible journey of children’s heart surgery in Liverpool and the thousands of lives that have been transformed by it.
Children’s cardiac surgery in Liverpool began in 1950, when one of Europe’s first centres dedicated to children’s heart surgery opened at Myrtle Street. The centre quickly gained international recognition, attracting trainee surgeons from across the world who came to learn from its pioneering team.
The service moved to Alder Hey in 1990 and soon became a specialist centre for heart conditions and the regional cardiac surgical centre for the North of England, North Wales and the Isle of Man. In 2015, it moved to the hospital’s new state-of-the-art building. Today, Alder Hey is one of the largest paediatric cardiac centres in the UK, caring for children and young people with complex heart conditions from across the country and beyond.
Over the decades, generations of clinicians, nurses and support staff have helped build a world-class service, combining expertise, innovation and compassionate care to support families during some of the most challenging moments of their lives.
Mr Ram Dhannapuneni, Head of Cardiac Surgery at Alder Hey, said: “As we celebrate 75 years of children’s cardiac surgery in Liverpool, it’s inspiring to think about what the next 75 years will bring. We hope to continue to advance and find new and better ways to care for our children and young people, making treatments even safer, recovery faster and outcomes even better for the children and families who place their trust in us.”
Mr Dhannapuneni specialises in complex heart surgery for babies, children and young people, repairing hearts that can sometimes be no bigger than a strawberry. He said: “The skill, dedication and compassion of the teams I work alongside every day is truly remarkable.
It’s a privilege to be part of that team and an honour to look after our children and their families, they never give up hope, and neither do we.”
Mr Dhannapuneni
The anniversary celebrations also shine a light on the children and families at the heart of the service. Over the past 75 years, thousands of young patients and heart heroes have undergone lifesaving procedures and gone on to live full and active lives.
Meet three different families and heart heroes who have all benefitted from heart surgeries in Liverpool and are proud to share their stories:
Colin & Edith’s Story
42-year-old Colin and his seven-year-old daughter Edith’s hearts were touched by the same surgeon, Mr Ram Dhannapuneni.
Colin, from St Helen’s, said “I was born with a chronic heart disease known as Shone’s Syndrome and had surgery as a baby in Myrtle Street in 1983, and incredibly I didn’t need any further interventions for 36 years. In 2018, my wife Karen and I had our daughter Edith, who was born with very severe Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). When she was a few days old, she had her first heart operation and at just a few months old, she had her next operation led by Ram Dhannapuneni, which was featured on BBC Hospital in 2019. She has had several interventions since and is my inspiration. She continues to receive excellent care from the wonderful Dr Caroline Jones and her colleagues at Alder Hey in Cardiology, on Ward 1C, and when needed, ICU and HDU. In 2020, I was told I needed another operation, after my heart began to struggle and this was performed by none other than Ram at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital- I was very excited when I found out it would be him. As for Ram, I feel very privileged that I can shake hands with a surgeon who has quite literally touched both mine and my daughter’s hearts. As a family, we couldn’t be more thankful for everything that the city’s history of cardiac treatment has given us, from Myrtle Street in the early 1980s to Alder Hey and LHCH today.”
Theo’s Story
19-year-old Theo from Northwich has Down’s Syndrome and was diagnosed with a heart condition called Atrioventricular Septal Defect when he was born. Despite several heart repairs, his first in Alder Hey in 2007 and his most recent in LHCH in 2025, he never lets it stop him from doing anything. Mum Helen said “We’re so proud of Theo and think he is inspiring (we might be biased) but he is so stoical and accepting of his condition. He recently won a Community Award for volunteering and is about to go on his Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition. He is an incredible dancer and has performed at festivals and events and hopes to go to college to study performing arts. He has a Saturday job and loves spending time with his family and girlfriend. I feel grateful every day that Theo’s heart has been fixed so many times. It is humbling to think that many years ago people with Down’s Syndrome weren’t offered this kind of life-saving operation so we are very lucky to have lived in this time where his life is considered valuable and Theo truly is of value to his community as a result.”
Millie’s Story
Millie from Southport is six months old and was diagnosed with (TGA) Transposition of the great arteries, a large hole in between the ventricles (VSD) and mesocardia whilst still in her mummy’s tummy. At 2 weeks old Millie had her first open heart surgery at Alder Hey and has since had three more. Her last surgery was seriously high-risk due to the unusual positioning of Millie’s heart. Mum Ella said “To all our amazement, the cardiac surgical team managed to mend Millie’s broken heart, and she was home 2 and a half weeks after her third surgery. She is behind on her milestones as she hasn’t had the strength or opportunities, but is getting stronger each day. We are beyond grateful and thankful to the Alder Hey team and feel completely blessed to have met such wonderful people. Every single member of staff we came across has been supportive, knowledgeable, caring and just outright amazing. It has been an overwhelmingly difficult journey at times, as we also had three other children to care for at home. There were some dark times, made brighter by some lovely people. A thank you will never be enough to the people who gave our baby a future.”
Their stories show just how far cardiac care has come over the years. The day marked an important milestone in recognising how important research and innovation are to ensure that children and young people in Liverpool and beyond receive the very best care, now and for generations to come.