Respite Care for Family Carers

Booked cover so you can stop

If you look after a relative yourself, respite is the care that covers you while you are not there. A week away. A hospital appointment of your own. A wedding. Or a full night's sleep, which for a lot of family carers is the thing they need most and ask for least.

How long, and how often

From a few hours a week up to several weeks at a time. Overnight cover comes in two forms: a sleeping night, where the carer sleeps in the house and is there if needed, and a waking night, where they stay up. For longer breaks we provide live-in respite, with a carer staying in the home for the whole period.

Why respite at home

Respite in a care home means an unfamiliar building, unfamiliar people, and a difficult few weeks afterwards while everything settles back down. Respite at home avoids all of that. The person you care for sleeps in their own bed, keeps their own routine, and does not have to be moved anywhere.

The handover

Before you go we sit down and write down what you actually do — not the medical summary, the real one. Which tablets, at what time, in what order. What they will eat and what they will push away. What to do when they get upset. How they take their tea. Nobody else knows any of this, and if it is not written down before you leave, it is lost.

While you are away

You get a daily update, by whichever means you prefer, and a number that reaches a real person day or night. We would far rather you had one short message each day than spend the week wondering.

Emergency respite

If you are taken ill or admitted to hospital, call us. We hold capacity for emergency cover and we will do everything we can to get someone out the same day. It works far better if we already know the person, which is why regular short breaks are worth booking even while you feel you are coping.

Support for families

We plan care with the people closest to you, respect the routines that matter, and keep family members informed in the way you agree. Planned respite gives family carers time to rest while their loved one remains at home.