A 75-year-old Petersfield widower is leading a campaign to keep open a vital respite home. Keith Goffe and other parents in the Petersfield area are angry that they have been kept in the dark about the future of the Tamarine home in Denmead. Mr Goffe's 37-year-old son Malcolm, who was born with Down's Syndrome and autism, has been using the much-loved home for many years. He and other adults with special needs visit Tamarine for several nights on a regular basis to give their full-time carers a break. Mr Goffe and other parents are horrified at the prospect that the house, where their loved-ones feel comfortable and at home, is to close. "The primary care trust says it will provide other facilities closer to our homes," Mr Goffe told The Herald this week, "but the only place they have mentioned so far is somewhere in Fareham, which is further away." In common with other parents, Mr Goffe said his son did not react well to change and that he would not be happy to leave him in an unfamiliar place. He said he would fight to keep Tamarine open for the use of disabled adults throughout the district. A petition signed by more than 20 worried parents has now been sent to the Hampshire NHS Trust. Calling Tamarine a "life-line" for carers, they expressed their anxiety at the proposed closure of the short-stay respite home. And East Hampshire MP Michael Mates has joined the campaign, calling on the NHS Trust to explain the position and to communicate more closely with parents. In a letter to Martin Barkley, the chief executive of the Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust, Mr Goffe said the primary care trust's delay in meeting individuals had caused a "great deal of anxiety". He wrote: 'It is obvious that there is no good alternative to the excellent service provided at Tamarine, which is manned by the devoted staff there. "With all due respect, if those who make their decision to close Tamarine had the task of looking after an adult son or daughter with a disability, then perhaps you would look at ways to keep Tamarine open. "If those users were in residential care, the cost for funding that would be much greater but would give the parents freedom they could enjoy. The parents choose to shoulder their responsibilities, however, and this should be recognised." In answer to claims that the numbers using Tamarine had fallen, Mr Goffe said that this was only because parents had been denied the service recently. "My wife and I were founder members of the renamed Petersfield Society for Special Needs (PSSN), with a membership of 140 or so, and as an active member still, I know of many who would love to have access to this service." Mr Goffe is supported in his campaign by the PSSN, and secretary Carole Patrick has written to Hampshire NHS Trust learning disability director Malcolm Ashton expressing the concern of members. "Tamarine is so beneficial to families because of the small number of adults with learning disabilities it is able to care for at any one time. These people take a long time to settle into a situation and are so happy and confident in a situation they love." She added: "There is a shortage in the area of respite for vulnerable adults with learning disabilities. The real concern for family carers is that there will just be nowhere for their sons and daughters to go that will provide essential respite with the excellent standard of care that is provided at Tamarine." In a report to the joint meeting of the East Hampshire Primary Care Trust and the Fareham and Gosport Primary Care Trust last year, head of continuing care Diane Wilson said there had been no new referrals to the service since the decision not to accept anyone who did not meet the NHS continuing-care eligibility criteria: "The number of service users using this service has dramatically reduced." She said it had not been used to its full capacity since l998, and the PCTs wanted to work with Hampshire County Council's adult social care department to provide "local" respite care for the current users.
