The seven steps
From the first conversation to the first night
Most families can do this in one to three weeks. If your parent is in hospital or alone at home now, skip to the section on arranging it this week.
- 1
Work out what the nights need
Day 1Keep a note for a week of how often your parent wakes, what they need when they do, and whether they can be left asleep. Waking once or twice and settling again suits a live-in carer. Needing help for hours most nights, or two people to move them, means somebody awake. - 2
Ask the council for a needs assessment
FreeEvery adult who seems to need care has a right to one, whatever their savings. It records what care is needed, and if your parent qualifies for help the council can pay towards care at home through a direct payment. - 3
Ask the GP about NHS continuing healthcare
FreeIf the needs are mainly health needs, such as complex medication, frequent seizures or advanced illness, the NHS may pay for all of the care at home. Ask for the checklist assessment before you start paying. - 4
Choose the arrangement
Week 1One live-in carer, a live-in carer plus waking nights, two live-in carers taking turns, or carers in day and night shifts. The table below sets out what each costs a week. - 5
Choose who provides it
Week 1 to 2A managed agency employs the carers, is registered with the CQC and arranges cover. An introductory service introduces self-employed carers whom you choose and hire, for less. Speak to two or three of the kind you want and meet the carer before you agree. - 6
Get the house ready
Before day 1A live-in carer needs a bedroom of their own, somewhere to keep their things and Wi-Fi. Think about a key safe, a baby monitor or sensor mat for the nights, and equipment such as a hospital bed or hoist, which an occupational therapist can assess for free. - 7
Plan the breaks and the cover
Before day 1A live-in carer needs a daily break and time off, and every carer is ill sometimes. Agree who covers the break each day, who takes over for holidays, and who to call at night if something goes wrong.
How to get 24-hour care funded covers the council and NHS routes in detail, and preparing the room for a live-in carer covers step 6.
The arrangements and costs
Four ways to cover the day and the night
The weekly figures are what carers on PrimeCarers charge, with our fee included. Managed agencies publish higher prices, shown in the next section.
| At night | A week | |
|---|---|---|
| One live-in carer | Sleeps in the house and gets up once or twice if needed | £1,050 to £1,400, typically £1,120 |
| Two live-in carers taking turns | The same as one live-in carer, with a week or fortnight on each | About £1,120, plus the handover day |
| A live-in carer and a waking night carer | A second carer is awake all night | From about £2,086, typically £2,156 |
| Carers in day and night shifts | Nobody lives in; a carer is awake every night | About £2,793 to £3,388 |
One live-in carer
- At night
- Sleeps in the house and gets up once or twice if needed
- A week
- £1,050 to £1,400, typically £1,120
Two live-in carers taking turns
- At night
- The same as one live-in carer, with a week or fortnight on each
- A week
- About £1,120, plus the handover day
A live-in carer and a waking night carer
- At night
- A second carer is awake all night
- A week
- From about £2,086, typically £2,156
Carers in day and night shifts
- At night
- Nobody lives in; a carer is awake every night
- A week
- About £2,793 to £3,388
PrimeCarers rates, our fee included. A typical care home place in England is about £1,160 a week and a nursing home place about £1,410, for comparison.
What 24-hour care costs gives the monthly and yearly figures, and live-in care or 24-hour care helps you tell which one your parent needs.
Who can provide it
Managed agencies and introductory services
Both kinds can set up round-the-clock care. They differ in who employs the carers, who arranges cover and what it costs.
| What it publishes about 24-hour care | |
|---|---|
| Agincare (managed) | Live-in care from £1,200 a week, and a 2 to 4 week Smart Start trial |
| Helping Hands (managed) | Live-in care from £1,675 a week, with specialist nurses behind its carers |
| Trinity Homecare (managed) | Live-in care from £1,694 a week for lower needs, with a quote after a free assessment |
| Right at Home (managed) | Visiting, live-in and 24-hour care from 80+ local offices, priced by each office |
| TrustonTap (introductory) | Self-employed carers; sleeping nights from £155 and waking nights from £200, plus its 5% fee and VAT |
| Consultus (both) | Introductory live-in from £1,092 a week, managed from £1,603, and live-in nursing |
| PrimeCarers (introductory) | Self-employed live-in carers from £1,050 a week, and a waking night on top of a live-in week for about £148, our fee included |
Agincare (managed)
- What it publishes about 24-hour care
- Live-in care from £1,200 a week, and a 2 to 4 week Smart Start trial
Helping Hands (managed)
- What it publishes about 24-hour care
- Live-in care from £1,675 a week, with specialist nurses behind its carers
Trinity Homecare (managed)
- What it publishes about 24-hour care
- Live-in care from £1,694 a week for lower needs, with a quote after a free assessment
Right at Home (managed)
- What it publishes about 24-hour care
- Visiting, live-in and 24-hour care from 80+ local offices, priced by each office
TrustonTap (introductory)
- What it publishes about 24-hour care
- Self-employed carers; sleeping nights from £155 and waking nights from £200, plus its 5% fee and VAT
Consultus (both)
- What it publishes about 24-hour care
- Introductory live-in from £1,092 a week, managed from £1,603, and live-in nursing
PrimeCarers (introductory)
- What it publishes about 24-hour care
- Self-employed live-in carers from £1,050 a week, and a waking night on top of a live-in week for about £148, our fee included
Sources: Agincare live-in costs, Helping Hands cost of live-in care, Trinity Homecare live-in care, Right at Home, TrustonTap pricing, Consultus live-in costs, PrimeCarers pricing.
Who provides 24-hour care at home lists ten providers with links to each one's own page, and how to choose a live-in care company has the checks to run before you agree.
If you need it this week
Arranging 24-hour care at short notice
If your parent is in hospital, ask the ward for the discharge team before a date is set. They can arrange up to six weeks of free reablement care in some areas, and the hospital should not discharge someone who is unsafe to go home. If your parent is at home and cannot be left, call the council's adult social care team and say it is urgent: they have a duty to act quickly where someone is at risk.
To pay privately at short notice, introductory services can often find a self-employed live-in carer within days, because you choose from carers who are free now. On PrimeCarers our urgent finder looks for a carer for you, with a £40 fee charged only if you go ahead with a carer it finds. Who can provide a live-in carer at short notice lists others.
Questions
Questions about arranging 24-hour care at home
Work out whether your parent needs somebody awake at night or just in the house. Ask the council for a needs assessment and the GP about NHS continuing healthcare. Then choose the arrangement (one live-in carer from about £1,050 a week, or a live-in carer plus waking nights from about £2,086), choose a managed agency or an introductory service, prepare a bedroom for the carer and plan who covers their breaks.
One live-in carer costs about £1,050 to £1,400 a week through an introductory service such as PrimeCarers. Managed agencies publish from about £1,200 to £1,694. If somebody must be awake every night, expect from about £2,086 a week for a live-in carer plus waking nights.
The council can pay towards it after a needs assessment and a means test, usually as a direct payment. If the needs are mainly health needs, NHS continuing healthcare can pay for all of it. Ask the GP or the hospital ward for the checklist assessment.
Only if your parent sleeps most of the night. A live-in carer sleeps at night and can get up occasionally. If your parent needs help for long stretches most nights, you need a second carer awake at night.