A COMMUNITY respite care bed in Corbridge is booked up until the end of August just months after a £120,000 fund-raising campaign to provide the free service.

Last year generous local people and businesses raised the six- figure sum to fund the provision at Charlotte Straker House for the next three years.

Since the bed opened in January, staff at the care facility say it has been in constant use and has become a vital resource for local carers.

Iwona Proszowska, deputy manager at Charlotte Straker, said: “We have had many inquiries about the respite bed, often from elderly family members who are the main carer for a relative and who are just desperate for some support and a break.

“Some of our respite patients have had long-term illnesses such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease, whilst some are just very frail and elderly.

“Sometimes the carers themselves have had to go into hospital for an operation, and there has been no-one to look after their dependent relative.

“That’s where we step in. It’s so important that local carers are offered some kind of free-of-charge respite care, as they can become completely overwhelmed without some support.”

Accessing respite care is becoming increasingly difficult in the North-East, due to funding cuts but breaks are vital for family caregivers as the physical, emotional and financial consequences of caring can be overwhelming without some support.

Corbridge resident, Gill MacDonald, recently used the facility after she suffered serious complications after hip replacement surgery.

“My husband was advised that I needed ‘around the clock’ care, but the family couldn’t find anywhere suitable that could help. Fortunately, I could go to Charlotte Straker House,” she explained.

“I was very poorly indeed when I first came, and I couldn’t do a thing for myself. The respite care was essential in getting me back to full strength.

“I’m a retired nurse myself, and I think it’s so important that this facility exists. I’m not sure how else my family would have coped.”

The community respite bed is open to all residents from Northumberland, who are aged 65 years and over, and need constant care at home.