About us Lagans Foundation

About Lagan’s Foundation

Families who live with a child who has heart defects or a feeding difficulty have a stressful and difficult task ahead.

Respite and support of any kind is invaluable. Lagan’s Foundation, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in England and Wales (1154208) aims to physically help support families who have infants and children up to 19 years old, diagnosed with complex health conditions specialising in heart defects and feeding difficulties. Lagan’s Foundation’s purpose is to provide unique at home and in hospital care to support parents in their caring role.

Our Aims

To provide home care and respite for families with children aged 0 – 19 years olds who have complex health needs, specialising in congenital heart defects and/or feeding difficulties across the North West of England

To provide support and information resources for these families.

To increase awareness and encourage expressed breast milk donation and its usage.

Our Vision

The vision of Lagan’s Foundation is to provide highly skilled professional carers to assist families so they can receive a short break.

All staff are fully DBS checked and have specific needs training to enable them to care for a child confidently.

The purpose of the professional carer will be to give the parent a break when they most need it, by offering an extra pair of hands to care for the specific child while the parent takes ‘time out’ in the home or at hospital or community.

Along with the caring role, Lagan’s Foundation hopes to provide simple support, information and guidance to parents so that they understand the level of care and support they may be entitled to receive from the NHS, Local Authority and other services in their area.

It has been recognised through the experience gained whilst caring for Lagan, that coordinating and accessing, care and support services, once baby or child returns home from a specialist unit where they have received diagnosis, treatment or care, is a challenging, and overwhelming task for many parents.

Lagan’s Foundation currently work with a number of NHS Trusts, ICBS, Local Authorities and other community groups.

Our Focus

Lagan’s Foundation has been founded with a focus on bridging the gap between NHS Services and Community Care by providing an extra avenue of communication, support and information.

Our aim is that with support from the appropriate Care Centres and the Community Teams we can try to ensure parents and carers of babies and young children with complex health needs, receive the care and support at home, in hospital and in the community that they need, deserve and are entitled to.

Lagan was a baby affected by complex congenital heart defects, due to this Lagan experienced feeding difficulties and was subsequently fed using the gastrostomy feeding tube otherwise known as the ‘PEG’ or in older children the ‘Mic-Key button’

Once Lagan was discharged home it became obvious that it was difficult to source any appropriate help to support caring for Lagan and to enable her family to have a short break. Lagan’s Foundation aims to included a donated care service for children who do no qualify for Local Authority or CCG health budget funding, to help the parent / unpaid carer do simple tasks such as get a shower, have a short but well needed sleep or maybe make and have a meal.