"HOMELINK" SHOULD BE A TEMPLATE FOR RESPITE FOR CARERS

10.42.02am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 17th Jun 2008

As part of Carers' week, local MP Susan Kramer visited Homelink, the Day Respite Care centre in Twickenham. Homelink offers a place one day a week to older people with long-term illnesses or disabilities so that their carers can have 5 hours off.

Kramer said:"Carers send relatives to Homelink with complete confidence knowing that the core of professional staff, including specialist nurses, and the wonderful volunteers will give them a safe and entertaining day.

"I have seldom visited a day centre with such a warm and friendly feel. The respect is shown even in little touches like flowers on the table and a sherry before lunch.

"Changes in funding procedures being introduced by Government must not be allowed to destroy places like Homelink by shifting the emphasis to respite care primarily in the home or for holidays. People benefit from regularly going out and mixing and the wider variety of specialists available at somewhere like Homelink helps to improve care too.

Homelink's programme which gives each carer one day of respite a week often means more than a week of residential respite care once a year."