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Respite Care
Respite care, sometimes known as short-term care, can be a great way to give you or a carer a break from caring duties. Whether you're looking for elderly respite care or for a child then organising temporary respite care through PrimeCarers can be a great option. On this page, we're going to introduce the various options for care including residential respite care and at-home respite care.
PrimeCarers is an introductory service that helps you to find the best private carers in your area. All the carers on our platform have already been background and DBS checked so that when you hire someone you can focus on personality over paperwork.
If you think respite care might be for you then you can call our team on 0203 369 3624 or enter your postcode or location to see what carers we have available in your area.
What is Respite Care?
Respite care is a form of temporary care that can be provided at a residential facility or at home in order to relieve the usual carer. At PrimeCarers we specialise in at-home respite care and try to make it as easy as possible to hire a professional carer at an affordable price. Respite carer can help you or your loved one with:
- Personal and continence care - This category includes showering, toileting, dressing and changing pads if required.
- Medication reminders - Reminding your loved one to take their medication at the correct times of the day.
- General housework - Cooking, cleaning, shopping and all the other tasks that your loved one might be struggling with.
- Companionship care - Making time to have a cup of tea and a chat with your loved one to help ease feelings of loneliness.
- Clinical care - Provisioning specialist support for managing colostomy bags, stomas or ventilators to name a few.
- Moving and Handling - Operating lifts and hoists to help you or your loved one move around the house.
Residential respite care
Residential respite care is provided by many organisations and charities. If you're interested in respite residential care then you can search for local providers at homecare.co.uk. Residential care can be a good option if the person you are caring for has intensive needs or if you usually care for them in the same house and need some additional space.
The benefits to residential respite care are that it provides space in the house for families that need a break. A residential care facility may also be able to provide intensive 24-hour care at a more affordable rate.
Home respite care
Respite care at home is when a professional carer will come into the individuals home to provide one-to-one care on a temporary basis. Respite care doesn't need to be 24 hours a day and can be organised to work around your own schedule from as little as 30 minutes per visit.
The benefits to home respite care are that the individual can be cared for in familiar surroundings with minimal disruption to their independence.
Organising home respite care with PrimeCarers is ideal as we operate on a 48-hour cancellation policy with no long term contracts or minimum spend.
How does it Work?
Who is respite care for?
Respite care is for anyone that is looking for temporary relief from caring duties. This could include:
- Peace of mind - Often a child may wish to take a holiday and want an elderly parent to be dropped in on once a day while they're away to check they're ok and have a cup of tea.
- Family relief - Families with disabled children that need a break from caring to prevent burnout.
- Professional carer relief - Providing holiday cover for the usual professional carer that is taking a holiday.
- Medical aftercare - If you or your loved one has recently left hospital then a period of aftercare to help get back on your feet as quickly as possible may be required.
How much does respite care cost?
The answer to this question depends on how much care you are looking for but broadly care falls into one of three categories.
- Hourly Care (under 6 hours) - £14-18/hr
- Shift Care (6 hours or more) - £12-16/hr
- Live-in Care (Carer sleeps in a spare room) - £110-150/day
At PrimeCarers we allow carers to set their own prices so that they are always rewarded fairly for their skills and years of experience. The above prices are the common price ranges for care on the site. When you work with traditional agencies or other providers the costs may be higher than this.
Can you get respite care for free?
There are a couple of potential funding routes for respite care ranging from local councils to the NHS. We've covered all of the details in our cost of care guide so start there if you need additional help paying for respite care.
How does respite care work with PrimeCarers?
If you want to start exploring your options with PrimeCarers the first step is to put your postcode or location into the search box at the top of the page and see what carers are available in your local area. You can filter carers by specialist skills, price or distance from you.
After you've found a few carers that you think will suit your requirements then you can click the “Contact Carer” button to send them a message. You'll need to verify your email address but then you can exchange phone numbers and chat as much as you'd like. While you're chatting make sure to explain your requirements and your schedule. When you've narrowed your choices down by who is available to help at the times that you need you can invite the carers for an interview of up to an hour for
In order to invite a carer for an interview, we require that you enter a set of bank card details. This is a way to safeguard carers on the platform so that we have a line of identity back to who booked the visit.
If the interview was a success then you can agree and book your visits straight on the PrimeCarers platform. Your carer will arrive for the booked visits and we'll collect payment from your card 24 hours later in case there were any problems.
You can call our team on 0203 369 3624 to see if elderly care is the right option for you.
