Respite Care at Home: Cover for Family Carers

Three kinds of respite, and which one you need

Regular respite is a fixed slot each week: the family carer gets a predictable afternoon back and the person receiving care gets a familiar visitor. Holiday respite is a live-in carer for one to four weeks while you are away. Emergency respite is cover arranged at short notice when illness, bereavement or a hospital admission takes the usual carer out of action.

• Regular weekly respite — hourly visiting care from £22/hr
• Holiday respite — live-in cover from £1,150/week
• Emergency respite — subject to carer availability; call and we'll tell you honestly
• No minimum contract length and one week's notice to stop

Why respite at home usually beats a temporary care-home stay

A two-week respite admission means a new building, new routine, new faces and a return home that often needs re-settling. Respite at home keeps everything constant except who is providing the support, which matters most for people with dementia, sensory loss or high anxiety.

Handing over well: what we ask you for

The handover is what makes respite work. Before a break we build the plan with you rather than from a form: the actual order of the morning, the phrases that reassure, which foods are refused, when medication really gets taken, who is allowed in the house.

• A written routine, in the order it actually happens
• Medication list and where it is stored
• GP, district nurse and next-of-kin contacts
• House access arrangements and any alarms
• Anything that reliably upsets or reliably settles

Don't wait for crisis point

The most common pattern we see is a family carer who declines help for two years and then needs full cover overnight. Respite booked while things are still manageable is easier to staff, easier for the client to accept and far cheaper than the emergency package that follows a carer breakdown.