The short answer
- Safety technology only works with consentA camera or an alarm helps, but your parent needs to agree to it and know it is there.
- A short, regular routine catches change earlyA quick call most days and a longer video call each week tells you more than an occasional long one.
- Sort the legal access before you need itA Lasting Power of Attorney and NHS proxy access let you act for your parent later, but only if set up while they still have capacity.
- Somebody needs to be there in person sometimesCalls and technology cover a lot, but a carer nearby can do what a phone call cannot.
Carers found on PrimeCarers charge £15 to £25 an hour with our fee included, whether your parent needs company for a few hours a week or full personal care.
Where to start
Five things remote care has to cover
Caring for a parent from a distance is not one problem. It is several running at once: knowing they are safe, staying close to them, keeping on top of their health, being able to act for them if something happens, and having somebody who can turn up in person when a phone call is not enough. This page takes each of those in turn.
Safety at home
A camera, a doorbell or a personal alarm so a fall or an unlocked door does not go unnoticed until your next visit or call.
Staying in touch
A routine of calls and video chats regular enough that a change in mood or memory stands out early.
Health and medicines
A way to see a GP, order a prescription or check a symptom without either of you needing to be in the same room.
Money and legal access
The paperwork that lets you act for your parent if they cannot, set up before it is needed rather than after.
Hands-on help nearby
Somebody local who can do what a phone call cannot: get them up, cook a meal, or simply be there.
None of this has to be set up in one weekend. Most families add a piece at a time, usually starting with whichever of the five worries them most. Money and legal access are the easiest to put off and the most important to arrange early, because they only work if they are in place before your parent needs them, not after.
Safety at home
Home safety technology that helps, and where consent matters
Cameras, alarms and sensors can tell you something is wrong before your next call would have. None of them replace a conversation with your parent about what you want to install and why, and each has a different job.
| What it does | Ongoing cost | Worth knowing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video doorbell or indoor camera | Shows you the door or a room, some with two-way talk | None beyond the device itself | Filming inside a family home is not illegal in the UK, but your parent needs to know it is there and agree to it. |
| Personal alarm or telecare pendant | A button or a fall sensor that reaches a 24-hour response line | Often a low weekly charge, sometimes subsidised by the council | The response line calls a neighbour or a keyholder first, not you directly, so put your own number and theirs on the file. |
| Smart plugs and sensors | Track use of the kettle or a door, and flag no activity by a set time | None beyond the device itself | A general sense of routine rather than a genuine emergency response. Pair it with an alarm rather than relying on it alone. |
| GPS location trackers | Shows where your parent is if they go out and you are worried | Sometimes a small monthly data fee | Worth considering alongside dementia care if getting lost has already happened once. |
Video doorbell or indoor camera
- What it does
- Shows you the door or a room, some with two-way talk
- Ongoing cost
- None beyond the device itself
- Worth knowing
- Filming inside a family home is not illegal in the UK, but your parent needs to know it is there and agree to it.
Personal alarm or telecare pendant
- What it does
- A button or a fall sensor that reaches a 24-hour response line
- Ongoing cost
- Often a low weekly charge, sometimes subsidised by the council
- Worth knowing
- The response line calls a neighbour or a keyholder first, not you directly, so put your own number and theirs on the file.
Smart plugs and sensors
- What it does
- Track use of the kettle or a door, and flag no activity by a set time
- Ongoing cost
- None beyond the device itself
- Worth knowing
- A general sense of routine rather than a genuine emergency response. Pair it with an alarm rather than relying on it alone.
GPS location trackers
- What it does
- Shows where your parent is if they go out and you are worried
- Ongoing cost
- Sometimes a small monthly data fee
- Worth knowing
- Worth considering alongside dementia care if getting lost has already happened once.
How the law treats cameras and recording in a family home, including when a carer visits, is covered in full on is it illegal to film carers in your home?
Start with whichever worry is largest rather than installing everything at once. A parent who is anxious about a fall is usually better served by a telecare pendant, which reaches a person, than by a camera, which only reaches a screen. Is it illegal to film carers in your home? sets out the legal position on cameras in more detail, and technology for living alone looks at the wider range of home technology beyond safety alone.
Staying in touch
A simple routine of contact that catches change early
Regular, ordinary contact does more than an occasional long conversation. A short call most days and a longer one each week builds a picture you can compare against, so a change stands out instead of being missed.
- 1
A short call most days
A few minutesEven just to say goodnight. It becomes the thread that tells you something is wrong before a bigger sign does. - 2
A longer video call every week
WeeklySeeing your parent and their home catches what a voice alone can miss: weight loss, a bruise, clutter building up, or a look that is not quite right. WhatsApp, Google Meet and FaceTime all work, and if your parent already has a smartphone or tablet, one of these is usually already on it. Microsoft closed Skype to new calls in May 2025, so if that is what they are used to, it is worth moving them across now rather than during a crisis. - 3
Company that is not always you
As neededA weekly call from a telephone friendship service, or a free helpline built for older people, gives your parent somebody to talk to on the days you cannot, and takes some of the pressure off you to be the only person keeping them company. - 4
A note of what changed, kept somewhere shared
After each call or visitA simple shared note means a change one sibling notices does not get lost before the next family conversation. This matters more once more than one of you is checking in from a distance.
If your parent is resisting calls, refusing help altogether, or seems different from how you remember them, dealing with irrational elderly parents and how do you tell someone they need care? are written for exactly that.
Health and medicines
Checking on their health and getting them seen without being there
You cannot take a temperature or watch somebody take their tablets over the phone, but you can put in place ways to see a GP, sort a prescription or flag a symptom without either of you travelling.
- 1
Ask their GP surgery about proxy access
Set up onceProxy access lets you see your parent's GP record and use services such as booking appointments or ordering repeat prescriptions from your own NHS App, with their consent. It has to be requested from the surgery directly rather than set up in the app, and if your parent cannot consent themselves, it can be granted to whoever holds a health and welfare Lasting Power of Attorney or has been appointed by the Court of Protection. - 2
Use online GP consultations for anything that is not urgent
OngoingMany GP surgeries let a patient describe a health problem through the NHS App and get a response or an appointment back, without a phone queue. Not every surgery offers this, so it is worth checking your parent's practice. - 3
Know where to go if something changes quickly
Keep this handyNHS 111 online talks through symptoms and points to the right next step, whether that is a pharmacy, an appointment or urgent care, and 111 by phone is there if going online is not possible. For a genuine emergency it is 999, the same as anywhere else. - 4
Simplify the tablets
One conversation with the pharmacistA dosette box or a blister pack sorted by the pharmacy each week reduces the chance of a missed or doubled dose, and most pharmacies will also flag a repeat prescription that has not been collected.
Money and legal access
Setting up the legal access you will need before you need it
If your parent were suddenly unable to make decisions, through a stroke, a fall or advancing dementia, could you pay their bills, talk to their bank, or agree to their treatment on their behalf? Most families cannot, because nobody arranged it in time. None of what follows can be put in place after the event.
Worth arranging in the next few months, while things are calm
0 of 6 ticked
While your parent still has full mental capacity
Practical access, for when somebody needs to get in
If your parent has already lost the ability to make these decisions and there is no Lasting Power of Attorney in place, deputyship through the Court of Protection is the fallback, though it costs more and takes longer than an LPA arranged in advance. Am I legally responsible for my elderly parent? covers what you are and are not obliged to do for them in law.
Hands-on help nearby
Somebody who can be there when you cannot
Calls, alarms and paperwork cover a great deal, but none of them can get your parent out of a chair, cook a proper meal, or notice something is wrong just by being in the room. At some point, most families arrange for somebody local to visit. Your parent's council and local Age UK branch can also point you to what already exists nearby, such as meal delivery and community transport to appointments, and a council care needs assessment is free and not means-tested if you want a clearer picture of what your parent qualifies for.
| What it covers | Suits a family who | A week on PrimeCarers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A companionship visit | Company, a chat, help getting to an appointment or the shops | wants somebody checking in and reporting back, more than hands-on care | £15–£20 an hour |
| Hourly personal care | Washing, dressing, meals and medication, at set times of day | needs the mornings or evenings covered but can otherwise manage | £18–£25 an hour |
| Live-in care | A carer in the home day and night | is not confident leaving their parent alone at all, or needs cover for a longer trip away | From £1,050 a week |
A companionship visit
- What it covers
- Company, a chat, help getting to an appointment or the shops
- Suits a family who
- wants somebody checking in and reporting back, more than hands-on care
- A week on PrimeCarers
- £15–£20 an hour
Hourly personal care
- What it covers
- Washing, dressing, meals and medication, at set times of day
- Suits a family who
- needs the mornings or evenings covered but can otherwise manage
- A week on PrimeCarers
- £18–£25 an hour
Live-in care
- What it covers
- A carer in the home day and night
- Suits a family who
- is not confident leaving their parent alone at all, or needs cover for a longer trip away
- A week on PrimeCarers
- From £1,050 a week
Prices are what carers on PrimeCarers charge with our fee included; agencies typically charge £28 to £35 an hour for the same visit. Every carer's identity, right to work and enhanced DBS are checked, and they have interviewed online, before their profile appears.
You can search and message carers near your parent from wherever you are, see their rates, reviews and availability, and arrange the first visit without needing to be there yourself. How does live-in care work? and respite care are worth reading if you are planning a longer trip away and want somebody covering the whole time, and companionship care if company and a friendly face matter more than personal care right now.
Questions
Questions families ask about caring from a distance
Yes, filming inside a family home is not illegal in the UK, but your parent's consent matters, and where you point a camera can raise separate privacy questions if it also captures a neighbour's property or a carer without them knowing. Is it illegal to film carers in your home? covers the detail.
Microsoft closed Skype to new calls in May 2025 and moved everyone to Microsoft Teams. If your parent was used to Skype, WhatsApp, Google Meet or FaceTime do the same job and are usually already on a smartphone or tablet, so it is worth switching them across now rather than during an emergency.
Only if their GP practice has set up proxy access for you, which has to be requested from the surgery directly rather than inside the NHS App. Once it is granted, you can see appointments, test results and repeat prescriptions from your own account. If your parent cannot give consent themselves, access can instead be granted to whoever holds a health and welfare Lasting Power of Attorney.
A Lasting Power of Attorney is arranged by your parent while they can still make their own decisions, and costs £92 to register with the Office of the Public Guardian. Deputyship, through the Court of Protection, is the fallback route if nobody made one in time and your parent has since lost capacity. It costs more and takes longer to arrange. Deputyship fees covers the second route.
Ask the provider who the alarm calls, in what order, and after how long unanswered it moves on to emergency services. Most telecare services call a keyholder or neighbour first and only call 999 if nobody answers, so make sure your own number and at least one local contact are on the file.
Try a neighbour or keyholder first if you have one arranged. If nobody can reach your parent and you are seriously worried for their safety, the police can carry out a welfare check: call 101 for a non-urgent concern, or 999 if you believe they are in immediate danger.
Technology and regular calls help you stay close and catch problems early, but they cannot get somebody washed, dressed or fed, or simply sit with them for an afternoon. Most families add hands-on help once the daily tasks become the issue rather than just staying in touch. Hourly care explains how visits are booked near your parent.