Carer Support and Respite | Providence Centered Care

What it is

You are allowed to stop

Most care in this country is not delivered by care companies. It is delivered by daughters, husbands, sons and neighbours, for nothing, often for years, usually while holding down a job. Respite exists because that is not sustainable at the pace people try to sustain it.

Respite means we take over for an agreed period so that you can stop. A few hours to go to your own hospital appointment. A day a week so there is something in the diary that is yours. A fortnight so you can go away, properly away, without ringing home every two hours.

It also covers the situation nobody plans for, which is the carer themselves being ill or admitted. When that happens the person they care for is suddenly without any support at all, and that is an emergency. We can respond at short notice, and our emergency service runs around the clock.

The other thing worth saying plainly is that using respite is not a failure and it is not giving up. The people who end up unable to continue caring are almost always the ones who never took a break, not the ones who did.

This is likely right if

A family carer has not had a proper break in months
The carer has their own appointments, work or health to manage
A planned holiday, wedding or trip is coming up
The carer is unwell, or facing surgery or a hospital stay
Caring is being managed but the strain is starting to show

Something else may fit better if

Ongoing daily support is what is really needed, where a homecare package fits better
The situation has become unsafe rather than tiring, where an urgent assessment is the right call

In practice

The shapes respite usually takes

Respite is not one thing. It is whatever gives the carer an actual break, and the right shape depends entirely on the household.

A few hours

A carer comes in so you can go out. Your own appointment, a haircut, a coffee with somebody who is not going to ask you how they are.

A regular day

The same afternoon every week. The value of this is the predictability. Knowing Thursday is yours changes the other six days.

Overnight

Cover through the night so that somebody who has not slept properly in a year can actually sleep.

A week or two

Enough to go away. Handled with a proper handover so you are not managing it remotely from a beach.

Emergency cover

The carer is ill or admitted. We step in at short notice, and our emergency line is answered twenty four hours a day.

Day services

For some families the break comes from the person attending our day service in Dagenham, with transport included, which gives structure to them and hours back to you.

The detail

What is included, and what is not

Set out plainly so there is nothing to discover later. Anything not listed here can still be discussed, and often arranged.

Included as standard

A written plan so the covering carer knows the routine, not just the tasks
Carers who are DBS checked, trained and briefed before they start
Medication support recorded the same way as in any other package
A proper handover both ways, at the start and at the end
Notes covering what happened while you were away
An out of hours number so you can reach somebody if you need to

Arranged separately

Residential respite in a care home, which we can help you look for
Nursing tasks requiring a registered nurse
Transport, which is available separately

Getting started

From first call to first visit

Planned respite is best arranged a few weeks ahead. Urgent respite is answered the same day.

01

Tell us the dates

Or tell us it is today, if the situation is that a carer has just been admitted. Both are normal calls for us to take.

02

We learn the routine

This is the part that matters most in respite. Not what needs doing but how it is done, and what the person likes, hates and worries about.

03

Introductions where there is time

Ideally the covering carer meets the person before the first day. Where it is urgent we do the handover with whoever is there.

04

We take it from there

You get notes at the end, and if you asked to be left alone we will leave you alone unless something genuinely needs you.

Cost

How this is paid for

If you are a family carer you are entitled to a Carer Assessment from your local council, separately from any assessment of the person you care for. It can result in funded respite, and a great many carers never ask for it because nobody has told them it exists.

Respite can also be paid for privately, arranged through a Direct Payment, or funded through the care package the person already has. Ask us and we will tell you which route is likely to work in your borough.

Read the full guide to funding

Questions

What families ask us about this

How much notice do you need?

For a planned break, a few weeks is comfortable and lets us get introductions done. For urgent cover, ring us. Our emergency service runs twenty four hours a day and a carer being suddenly admitted to hospital is exactly what it is there for.

What is the shortest respite you will do?

A few hours. Some of the most valuable respite we provide is one afternoon a week, because it is regular and it can be relied on.

Does the person I care for have to leave home?

No. Most of our respite happens in the person own home, which is far less disruptive. Where a different setting is wanted we will talk through the options.

Am I entitled to a carer assessment?

Yes, if you provide regular unpaid care. It is a legal entitlement, it is separate from the assessment of the person you care for, and it is free. Ask your local council adult social care team.

Will you tell me what happened while I was away?

Yes, in writing, and in person if you want it. Some families want a full account and some want to know only if something went wrong. Tell us which you are and we will do that.

Can respite become a regular arrangement?

Very often it should. A weekly break that keeps a family carer going for another two years is worth far more to everybody than a crisis package after they cannot go on.

Also worth reading

Services that often go together

Homecare and Personal Care

Support in your own home, from half an hour a day to round the clock, built around the way you already live.

When did you last have a day off?

If the answer is that you cannot remember, that is the reason to ring. Ask about a carer assessment while you are at it.

Make a referral Talk to someone first

Emergency placements are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.