Lauralynn to roll out its 'at home' service in Meath

LauraLynn, Ireland’s Children’s Hospice, has announced a new ‘at home’ service in Meath for children with life-limiting conditions.
During Children’s Hospice Week, the charity announced it is making the move to ‘at home’ care with a 12-month trial to begin this month in Meath and selected areas.
The new service will bring all of the expertise and care that children currently receive at LauraLynn into the family home on a 12-month trial basis.
LauraLynn@Home will provide hands-on care in the home, provided by a team of dedicated LauraLynn nurses and health care assistants. This care will include respite, transitional, crisis and end-of-life care.
The only difference to the current model of care available at LauraLynn will be that families can have the option of receiving this care in their own home.
The LauraLynn@Home Pilot Programme will be available in the HSE Dublin North-East area including Meath, Louth, Cavan, Monaghan, North Dublin, and HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster Kildare, Wicklow, Wsetmeath, Laois, Offaly, Longford and South Dublin.
LauraLynn estimate that approximately 50 families will avail of this service during the trial period.
The pilot project will run for one year at an estimated cost of €800,000. All of the money for this additional service has come from publicly donated funds, with the majority of this coming from the recent Half Million Half Marathon event organised by Ray D’Arcy and Today FM.
Julie Ling, Head of Strategic Development at LauraLynn, is coordinating the LauraLynn@Home pilot and overseeing its roll out. She said: “Parents are often the main providers of care for children with life-limiting conditions and national and international evidence suggests that the majority of parents, where possible, wish to care for their child at home with the appropriate supports. LauraLynn@Home will work with colleagues in the community and aims to provide families with more choices.
'Our aim is to provide the same high standard of care, regardless of whether the child is cared for in LauraLynn House or in the child’s own home. We would welcome any family in either of the two pilot areas who would like to apply for the LauraLynn@Home service to contact us at any stage to discuss.”
Jane McKenna, mother of Laura and Lynn, was at the Children’s Hospice Week celebrations for the announcement: “In the short few years that LauraLynn has been open it is amazing that we can now offer this crucial service in the home. For parents who find themselves in the difficult situation of requiring end-of-life care, choices are important. We can now offer families options. It is our hope and belief that this new service will eventually bridge the gap for hundreds of families who require the support of LauraLynn but who want to have their child at home.”
Further information is available on lauralynn.ie or by emailing home@lauralynn.ie