The short answer
- Ten to twelve hours is the shiftAnything shorter than eight hours is usually an hourly evening visit instead, and anything longer than twelve is a night plus part of a day.
- Start at bedtime, not at midnightCarers arrive while the person is still up, so they can help them to bed rather than meeting them for the first time at 2am.
- Two handovers make the shift workFive minutes at each end: how the day went, what happened in the night, what to watch for.
- The carer needs a bed or a real chairA spare bed for a sleeping night, an armchair and a lamp for a waking one, and the kettle they are allowed to use.
Rates are what carers charge on PrimeCarers, with our fee included. Hourly visits are £18 to £25 an hour.
Build your shift
Choose the times and see the hours, the fee and whether it counts as one night
Most families know when they want the carer to arrive and when they need them gone. Put those two times in and the rest follows: the length of the shift, whether carers will treat it as a night, and what it costs.
Start from a common shift
9pm to 7am, 10 hours in the house.
This shift
A standard night shift
Ten to twelve hours is what almost every night is booked as. It is one carer for one night at a single fee, whether the night turns out busy or calm.
Counts as one night
Yes, one carer and one fee
What it costs
£130 to £145
One sleeping night, one fee, whether the night is busy or calm.
Carers set their own rates and their own hours. Agree the start and finish time in writing before the first shift so nobody is guessing at 8am.
The tool uses eight, twelve and fourteen hours as its dividing lines because that is how carers think about the length of a shift. Under about eight hours you are asking for an evening or an early morning, and that is hourly work at £18 to £25 an hour. Between eight and twelve hours you are asking for a night, and it is priced as a night whether the person sleeps through or not. Past twelve hours you are asking for a night plus part of a day, and carers price the extra hours on top. Past fourteen you are asking for something no one person should do, and the sensible answers are two carers or live-in care.
The usual hours
Start times, finish times and why they land where they do
Night shifts are built around the two hardest parts of the day rather than around the clock, and for most households those are getting into bed and getting out of it.
9pm
The most common start time
Late enough that the evening is over, early enough to help with bed rather than arrive after it.
8am
The most common finish time
After breakfast and morning medication, and usually as a day carer or family member arrives.
10–12
Hours in the house
It is one shift at one fee, and the length does not change what you pay.
2
Handovers a shift
One when the carer arrives and one when they leave. Both are short, and both are worth doing properly.
Typical bookings on PrimeCarers, August 2026.
Carers set their own hours, so there is a spread. Some will start at 8pm because the person they are looking after goes to bed early and the evening is when they get anxious. Some finish at 7am because a daughter arrives before work. A few will do 10pm to 6am, which suits a household where the evening is manageable and it is the small hours that are not. What almost nobody does is a shift that starts at midnight, because the carer would meet the person for the first time in the dark, half asleep and possibly confused, which is the worst possible introduction.
If the evening itself is the problem rather than the night, a tucking-in call of an hour at 8pm often fixes more than a whole night does, and costs a fraction of it.
Hour by hour
What the carer is doing between arriving and leaving
This is a 9pm to 8am sleeping night, the most commonly booked shift on PrimeCarers. A waking night has the same shape at each end, and the carer stays up in between.
- 9pm
Arrival and handover
Coat off, kettle on, five minutes with whoever is there: how the day went, what was eaten, whether the afternoon was difficult, what medication is still due.
- 9.15pm
Time together before bed
The carer does not march anyone upstairs. Fifteen or twenty minutes of ordinary company makes the rest of the night easier, especially for somebody who is anxious about the dark.
- 10pm
Settling for the night
The bathroom, teeth, nightclothes, night medication, a drink within reach, a light left the way they like it, and the doors checked.
- 10.30pm
The carer writes the first note
Time to bed, mood, anything the family should know. Two lines is enough.
- 11pm
The carer goes to bed
On a sleeping night, in their own room with the door ajar and the monitor on if there is one. On a waking night this is when the chair, the lamp and the book come out.
- 2am
Up once
A trip to the bathroom, a drink, or reassurance after a confused waking. Back to bed inside ten minutes on a normal night.
- 6.30am
The house starts to wake
Some people are up at five and some at eight. The carer works to whichever it is rather than to the shift clock.
- 7am
Morning routine
Curtains, tea, morning medication, help washing and dressing if that is part of the arrangement, breakfast made and eaten.
- 8am
Handover and home
What happened, what to watch for today, when they are next in. Written in the same book every time so the family can read back a fortnight.
The shape of the night holds even when the night itself is a difficult one. A carer who is up four times still does the settling at one end and the breakfast at the other, and still writes it down. If the night was unusual, that note is what tells you whether to call the GP, and over a few weeks it is what tells you whether the booking is still the right kind. Waking night or sleeping night has the rule of thumb for that.
The handovers
Five minutes at each end that decide how the night goes
The handover is the only part of a night shift a family sees, and it is the part most often skipped when everyone is tired. It is worth protecting.
- 1
The evening handover
5 minutes, on arrivalWhat was eaten and drunk, what medication has been given and what is still due, how the day went, and anything unusual: a fall, a new pain, a visit from the district nurse, a bad phone call. Somebody who was upset at 6pm is often the person who is up at 2am. - 2
The medication check
2 minutesThe carer looks at the medication record and confirms what is due overnight and in the morning. Anything the carer is not asked to give in writing, they will not give. That is the safe way round, and it is why the written plan matters more than a conversation on the doorstep. - 3
The house walk
First night onlyWhere the bathroom light switch is, which stair creaks, where the spare bedding lives, how the boiler works, which door sticks. Ten minutes on the first night saves an hour of fumbling in the dark later. - 4
The morning handover
5 minutes, before they leaveHow the night went, how many times they were up and why, what was eaten at breakfast, what medication was given, and anything to watch for. If nobody is there in the morning, the carer leaves it written down and messages the family member who books the care.
What the carer needs
What a night carer needs from the house
None of this is fussy and none of it is expensive. It is the difference between a carer who takes the booking again and one who does not.
Somewhere to lie down
A light they can use
The kettle and a mug
The care plan and the medication
Numbers that work at 3am
A way in that does not wake the house
The bed is the one that catches people out. On a sleeping night the carer is expected to sleep, so there has to be somewhere to do it: a spare room ideally, or a proper bed in a room next to the person. A camp bed on a landing is not enough, and neither is a sofa in the room where the person sleeps. If the house has no spare room, say so when you first message carers rather than on the doorstep at 9pm; plenty will take a waking night in a chair instead, and the price changes accordingly. Where carers sleep sets out what is reasonable to offer, and the same standards apply for one night as for a live-in arrangement.
What to leave out
What to leave out for the night carer
Print this and work down it before the first shift. After that, leaving it out becomes part of the evening and takes two minutes.
Before the carer arrives
0 of 15 ticked
For the person being cared for
For the carer
Written down, on paper
Shorter and longer nights
When the night is not ten to twelve hours
Most bookings are a standard night. These are the four variations families ask for, and how carers price each of them.
| Hours | What it is | What it costs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twilight visit | 1 to 2 hours, 8pm to 10pm | Help into bed, then the carer goes home. It is not a full night. | £18 to £25 an hour |
| Short night | 8 to 9 hours, 10pm to 6am | A night, and priced as one by most carers. A few will shade it down. | £130 to £160 |
| Standard night | 10 to 12 hours, 9pm to 8am | One carer, one fee, bedtime to breakfast. | £130 to £160 |
| Night plus a morning | 13 to 14 hours, 8pm to 10am | A night with extra hours on the end, usually so somebody can get to work. | The night, plus £18 to £25 an hour |
| Round the clock | 24 hours | Two carers, or a live-in carer with a separate waking-night carer. | Live-in from £1,050 a week |
Twilight visit
- Hours
- 1 to 2 hours, 8pm to 10pm
- What it is
- Help into bed, then the carer goes home. It is not a full night.
- What it costs
- £18 to £25 an hour
Short night
- Hours
- 8 to 9 hours, 10pm to 6am
- What it is
- A night, and priced as one by most carers. A few will shade it down.
- What it costs
- £130 to £160
Standard night
- Hours
- 10 to 12 hours, 9pm to 8am
- What it is
- One carer, one fee, bedtime to breakfast.
- What it costs
- £130 to £160
Night plus a morning
- Hours
- 13 to 14 hours, 8pm to 10am
- What it is
- A night with extra hours on the end, usually so somebody can get to work.
- What it costs
- The night, plus £18 to £25 an hour
Round the clock
- Hours
- 24 hours
- What it is
- Two carers, or a live-in carer with a separate waking-night carer.
- What it costs
- Live-in from £1,050 a week
PrimeCarers rates, August 2026, with our fee included. The night range covers sleeping nights at £130 to £145 and waking nights at £150 to £160.
The variation families most often want is the last hour. Somebody needs to leave for work at 8.30am and the carer is booked until 8am, so there is a half-hour gap in which a person who is unsteady is alone. Ask the carer to stay until 9am and pay the extra hour at their hourly rate; it is a small amount of money for the part of the day when most falls happen. If you find yourself extending the shift at both ends every week, the arrangement has grown into something else, and seven nights a week and what a rota costs or live-in care will both be cheaper than what you are doing. The night cost guide has every figure in one place, and the cost of care hub compares nights with visits.
Questions
Questions about night shifts
Ten to twelve hours. The most common booking is 9pm to 8am, which is eleven hours. Some carers start at 8pm and some finish at 7am, and a few will do a shorter night of eight or nine hours. Whatever the length within that range, it is booked as one night at one fee: £130 to £145 for a sleeping night and £150 to £160 for a waking one.
Usually between 8pm and 10pm, while the person is still up. That way the carer helps them to bed, gives the night medication and settles them, rather than meeting them for the first time in the dark. If the evening is when things go wrong, ask for an earlier start; carers set their own hours and many will.
Yes. A night shift runs through to breakfast, normally 7am or 8am. The carer helps the person up, gives morning medication, helps with washing and dressing if that is part of the arrangement, makes breakfast, and hands over to a day carer or a family member before they leave.
No. A night is one fee whatever happens inside it. What changes the price is the kind of night you booked: if a sleeping night is busy every week, the booking is the wrong kind and the fair answer is to move to the waking rate. Agree that with the carer when you book rather than after a bad fortnight.
You can book any hours you like, but under about eight hours carers treat it as an hourly visit rather than a night, at £18 to £25 an hour. A two-hour evening visit to get somebody into bed often solves more than people expect, and costs far less than a full night.
On a sleeping night, they sleep, in a bed in the house, with the door ajar or a monitor on. On a waking night they sit nearby with a low light, check on the person every hour or so, and get on with something quiet in between. They are not expected to clean the house, and asking a night carer to do the ironing at 2am is a good way to lose them.
For a sleeping night, yes, or at least a proper bed in a room next to the person. A sofa in the same room is not a sleeping arrangement and most carers will decline it. For a waking night an armchair, a footstool and a lamp are enough, because they are not sleeping. Say which you can offer when you first message a carer.
Tell us as soon as you know and we will help you find cover. It is also why families who book most nights of the week keep two or three carers on the rota rather than one, so a cancellation is a phone call rather than a crisis. Building a night rota covers how to set that up.