We carried out a review of the data available to us about Lagan's Foundation on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Lagan's Foundation, you can give feedback on this service.
This service was registered initially registered with the CQC in July 2012. The service relocated to its current address in September 2018. This is the first inspection at the new premises.
Lagan’s Foundation provides specialist daytime and overnight respite care solutions for children 0 -19 years old who have complex health care needs. The service specialises in heart conditions and /or feeding issues. The service provides support for parents who are staying with their child in hospital and home visits across the country. This is a unique national charity which provides emotional and physical care to children and families.
At the time of the inspection there were 18 younger people and children receiving support from the service. The service operates from an office close to Bolton town centre.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service maintained its overall rating of good. People whose families were supported by Lagan’s and healthcare professionals continued to describe the service as very good and tailored to meet the needs of the children, young people and their families.
The registered manager and the management team told us how important the services’ shared values were to them and how passionate they were about providing a high standard of care and support.
Children and young people were supported safely, and risks regarding their care were assessed and met. Where this was a part of their care, medicines were given safely in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
Staff and volunteers had been safely recruited, well trained and supported with any specialist training provided as required. Staff were aware of how to report any concerns of neglect or abuse and were confident they would be addressed.
The children and young people supported by the service were under the age of 16 years and therefore the Mental Capacity Act did not apply to them.
The leadership of the service was acknowledge by staff and parents for their commitment and care. One member of staff told us how supportive the registered manager had been to them.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good in all areas (published 14 December 2016).
Why we inspected
This was a scheduled inspection, based upon the last rating.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Lagan Foundation on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
Lagan’s Foundation is a charitable organisation that provides respite for families with babies or young children diagnosed with a heart defect or feeding difficulties. Lagan’s provides at-home and in hospital support to parents across the country.
Lagan’s operates from a domestic dwelling in the Horwich area of Bolton. The staff supporting families were highly trained volunteers.
The service had a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
The registered manager was supported by a small team consisting of a volunteer coordinator, a family liaison officer and a business development fundraising officer.
The last inspection was carried out on 23 April 2013; we did not identify concerns with the quality of care and support provided.
At this inspection Lagan’s was supporting 25 families covering areas England and Wales. There were 59 families on a waiting list waiting support from the Lagan’s team.
We looked at the care records for four families supported. All care records were stored electronically The system used enabled all records and communication sheets to scanned in to the system. The systems had a secured backup network in New York, Australia and Europe so data could be always be retrieved in the event of system failure.
We found care records were detailed, personalised and responsive to the children’s and family’s needs. The care records showed that a comprehensive assessment was completed prior to the support commencing. This ensured that the serious conditions that the child needed support with was conveyed to the registered manager and their team.
The service had robust recruitment procedures in place. Every volunteer had a detailed recruitment file. These were electronically stored.
We found the service had suitable safeguarding procedures in place, which were designed to protect children and families from the risk of abuse.
We looked at a selection of the policies and procedures. Every volunteer is provided with a condensed version of the policies and procedures for them to refer to as required.
New volunteers undertook a comprehensive induction programme, which included training at Alder Hay Children’s Hospital. This was also part of the interview process and support workers had to pass this training in order to be offered part of the team. Lagan's also worked closely with Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Albert Royal, Wigan Children’s Ward and other service across the country.
We saw records that show volunteers had weekly contact with the registered manager or more frequently if required.
We found that before any care and support was offered the service obtained written consent from parents. We were shown examples of the completed consent forms.
We contacted some of volunteers following our inspection who told us that they were fully supported by the registered manager and that the service was very caring, professional and thorough.
The registered manager liaised and worked closely with other healthcare professionals to share good practice and new ideas.
We found the service undertook a comprehensive range of checks to monitor the quality of service delivery. This included volunteer and family feedback surveys, care records check, incidents and accidents and complaints.