How do I arrange respite care?
Short answer
Start with a carer’s assessment, which should consider your need for a break, and ask the council about funding. Respite can be provided at home, at a day centre, through a short care home stay or a Shared Lives placement — and emergency arrangements should be planned in advance.
Respite is temporary care that gives an unpaid carer a break. It is not a luxury or an admission of failure: sustained caring without rest is the commonest route to a placement breakdown, and the system is meant to prevent that.
The forms it takes
- Care at home — a paid carer covering for you for hours, days or overnight.
- Day centres and day services — regular hours out of the house for the person you care for.
- Short stays in a care home — a week or two, often used for holidays or planned surgery.
- Shared Lives — a scheme matching the person with an approved carer who supports them in a family home, for short breaks as well as longer-term arrangements. Ask your council’s adult social care team, or search through Shared Lives Plus.
Funding it
Start with the carer’s assessment: the council must consider your need for a break as part of it. Some respite is funded by the council or, where health needs dominate, the NHS; some is paid for privately. If you receive a carer’s personal budget or direct payment, you can generally use it to arrange the break yourself, which gives you far more choice over timing and provider.
Two things to sort out before you need them
First, involve the person you care for. Their preferences about where they go and what they do should be respected, and if they lack capacity their wishes and feelings still count in a best interests decision. An adult with capacity can refuse respite altogether — if that leaves your own health at risk, say so plainly in your carer’s assessment, and raise it as a safeguarding concern where appropriate.
Second, make an emergency plan now. Write down who should be contacted, what care is needed daily, medication details and key contacts, and keep it somewhere obvious. If you are admitted to hospital unexpectedly, hand it to staff and ask for the hospital social work team — most hospitals have a duty social worker who can arrange emergency cover. Outside hospital, the council’s adult social care emergency line and NHS 111 can help.
Related guides
Respite Care Options
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Carer's Assessment: Your Rights
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