Children's Heart Surgery Fund

Children's Heart Surgery Fund is a specialist charity with the guiding vision 'Each Child has a Childhood', dedicated to transforming care for children, adults, and families affected by congenital heart disease through enhanced medical resources and holistic support linked to regional cardiac centres. Core values of empowerment, compassion, equity, and community drive their patient-centric, family-focused philosophy, emphasizing strategic partnerships with NHS services to fill critical gaps, build multidisciplinary capacity, and deliver sustainable impact via direct interventions that enable fuller lives for those with lifelong CHD needs.

They prioritize congenital heart disease across the care continuum, funding neonatal and paediatric cardiac surgery, adult congenital heart services, and transitional care for young people with complex heart conditions, alongside comprehensive family support addressing emotional, practical, and psychosocial needs of carers and siblings. Supported activities include major medical equipment for cardiac imaging and patient monitoring, ward resources enhancing comfort and safety, specialist staff posts in clinical roles, professional training and conference attendance for multidisciplinary teams, scientific research advancing CHD treatments, family accommodation like respite houses, and psychosocial initiatives such as counselling and peer support groups. Interventions focus on improving treatment pathways, preventing complications through early intervention, and fostering holistic, person-centred care models that integrate therapeutic medical advancements with family empowerment, staff development, and community outreach via network clinics.

Exclusions encompass non-CHD conditions, general healthcare without demonstrable congenital heart benefits, or projects duplicating NHS provision without added value. Distinctive priorities target CHD patients and families in regional communities served by the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit, favouring collaborations with local clinical teams, capital investments in care innovations, and holistic approaches blending medical excellence with family resilience. They seek evidence-based, inclusive projects led by professionals committed to equity and long-term outcomes for isolated rural families facing lifelong cardiac challenges.