Connect with other carers: carersuk.org/forum
Your experiences
support themselves or provide direct payments
so your mother can choose what support
to purchase. The council would carry out a
financial assessment on your mother to see
how the respite care will be paid for. Depending
on her income and capital, the council might
pay the full amount, or she might have to
contribute or pay the full amount.
To find respite care yourselves (which your
mother could either pay for via direct payments
or which she could pay for herself) you could try
the following:
• search for care providers (and their ratings)
on the Care Quality Commission website:
www.cqc.org.uk
• the local council or a local advice centre
(such as a local Age UK, carers centre or
disability charity) might have a list of local
care providers.
If you were going to take a break then you
could explore the following options for help with
the cost:
• if help with the cost of a break is an ‘eligible
need’ in your carer’s assessment then the
council must meet this need
• there are sometimes local carers’ grants
which could be accessed through the council
(usually via a carer’s assessment) or through
a local carers’ centre
• there are sometimes more general grants
(ie not specific to your local area) – see
our Taking a Break factsheet for a list or
organisations.
• Turn 2 Us has a database of organisations
that offer grants – visit turn2us.org.uk
Good luck and take care of yourself.
Factsheet: Taking a break
Download at carersuk.org/break or request a free
printed copy by contacting the Carers UK Adviceline
on 0808 808 7777 or at [email protected]
Forum: carersuk.org/forum
My experience of respite care is an
emotional up and down.
My mother has dementia. She used
to have regular and planned respite
at a unit that also provided specialist
daycare, giving me a much-needed
breather. But it had the downside of
her being more unsettled when she
came home. Now she’s not mobile,
finding consistent, good-quality care
is hit and miss.
I need respite to give myself
a chance to recharge, but it is
more stressful than it used to
be and I fret about the standard
of care that mum receives.
I cared for mum for eight years.
I never took a break - mainly due to
mum refusing to go into respite care,
but also because I didn’t think anyone
else would be able to give her the care
she needed. I look back now and wish
I had been stronger to let others help
care for mum. After years of hardly
any sleep and no break, I seem to be
constantly poorly and my immune
system is at a low.
I would do it all again if I had to,
but if you are a carer and you get
the chance of a break please do
take it - you’ll be more energised
to carry on.
Updated
for 2016
11