People who do care for carers

LOUISA RUST

When Lake Heights carer Ruth Parrie was told her husband had been taken to hospital with chest pain while working in the Blue Mountains, she was able to rush off to be with him, knowing that her elderly mother, who suffers dementia, would be well looked after.

Fortunately, Ms Parrie was a client of the Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centre at Oak Flats, a government-funded organisation that operates 24-hour emergency respite care.

The centre also offers services to assist with one-off care situations, it helps carers organise longer term stays for their loved ones when they want to go on a holiday, and offers a database to guide carers on where to access other services.

“If I hadn’t have known about this service I don’t know what I would have done,” Ms Parrie said.

“It was really good to know I could go (to see my husband) and they would put everything into place.

“Up until recently I could send mum to my sisters in Queensland and Melbourne, but she can’t travel any more.

“When I need a holiday, these beautiful people (at the centre) help out. They are a great team of people and things happen so quickly and you need someone who is going to be on the ball.”

Gaye Brett, information officer with the centre, said the organisation offered support to people in a wide range of caring situations.

“People can call us and within an hour we broker nurses to replace what the carer does,” she said.

“We aim to help carers of older people, people with dementia and people with a disability.

“We also help organise residential respite for when carers want to go on holidays.”

The respite centre services clients from Helensburgh to Durras, near Bateman’s Bay.

The Member for Throsby Jennie George MP last week announced that the Oak Flats centre would receive $1.18 million in funding from the Commonwealth Government over the next three years to continue its work supporting local carers.

The centre was one of three local services to receive funding, along with the Shellharbour/Kiama Dementia Project at Albion Park HACC Centre and the Macedonian Welfare Association Respite Care Centre at Port Kembla.

For more information on the Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centre and its services, phone 1800 059 059.