Respite carers allow for anyone in a care role to take essential time for themselves while continuing to provide an exceptional level of care. Providing care for someone is a remarkable undertaking. Whether you’re a professional carer or caring for a child, parent or other loved one, taking time out to rest and recharge is important for your own health and wellbeing. While we know it can be hard to ask for help, respite carers are here when you need them.
Curam’s experienced respite carers provide specialist support when you need it most throughout the UK. They can support you in numerous ways:
Allow you time to rest and manage other responsibilities
Provide cover during unexpected emergencies
Help you to attend special events or holidays free of worry
Provide an uninterrupted level of care in a client’s home
Allow you to return to caring focused and energised
How does respite care work?
Respite care refers to short-term care when someone else steps in to look after the person you care for. This kind of care gives you a break to tackle other responsibilities, deal with stress, tend to yourself or simply relax
Respite care can take the form of hourly, overnight or live-in care, depending on your needs and those of the person you care for.
Whether you’re dealing with an immediate emergency or looking to prevent future burnout as a carer, respite care can help. Care work is hard work – organising regular breaks can help you recharge your batteries so you can continue to provide a great level of care.
Anyone who provides care and support for someone else can organise respite care. This includes friends and family who provide unpaid care as well as principal paid carers.
Why choose Curam for respite care?
Whether you’re dealing with an immediate emergency or looking to prevent future burnout as a carer, respite care can help. Care work is hard work – organising regular breaks can help you recharge your batteries so you can continue to provide a great level of care.
Anyone who provides care and support for someone else can organise respite care. This includes friends and family who provide unpaid care as well as principal paid carers.
Benefits of respite care at home?
Respite care at home can be a huge help to both the carer and the person being cared for. These interim carers can support existing carers and family members by allowing them to take time off to relax, go on holiday, attend appointments and attend to their life outside of care work. In addition to providing the regular relief we all need from work, this helps prevent long-term burnout.
For those who receive regular care, respite care at home can help them retain their usual surroundings without any break in care provision. This consistency of care is particularly important for those who benefit from the routine of their home life, such as people with autism and conditions such as dementia.
Respite care services
Respite care can take the form of hourly, overnight or live-in care, depending on your needs and those of the person you care for. These carers will take over most or all of your care responsibilities for the duration of their contract:
Personal care such as Preparing, serving and feeding food or drink
Personal care such as bathing, dressing and moving about the home
Prompting clients to take prescribed medicines
Administering first aid and helping with medical equipment
Domestic duties such as shopping, cleaning, personal admin and gardening tasks
Preventing falls and accidents at home
Accompanying clients on trips outside of their home
Providing companionship and peace of mind
Types of respite care
Curam can connect you with carers providing many different types of respite care, including:
Last-minute care
Specialist care
Elderly care
Care for those with Parkinson’s and other degenerative disorders
Hourly care
Overnight care
Live-in care
Many respite carers specialise in certain types of care, including:
Easy 3 step process to hire a carer of your choice.
1
Find
Personalise your search to find experienced carers near you Or Post your express CuramPlan to find carers that fit your immediate care needs
2
Meet
Video/audio call your chosen carer on CuramMeet or message them via the app.
3
Hire
Hire your insured and vetted carer via Curam.
Take the first step, share your post code to find respite care near you
Costs of respite care
Our self-employed carers set their own rates on the Curam platform. The cost of respite care is often determined by the level of care required. These rates can vary according to the carer’s experience and qualifications.
General costs
The average hourly respite care rate charged on Curam is £19.74 per hour, with rates starting at £13 an hour. The average live-in care rate charged on Curam is £1,127 per week, with rates starting at £850 a week. Rates vary depending on where you live in the UK.
Invoices are also subject to the Curam client fee of 10% and VAT. However, this client fee may be lower or waived for our business partners or those receiving local authority or NHS funding for their care. Please email client@curamcare.com to learn more about your costs with Curam.
Check average rates in your postcode
With Curam you pay less but your carer earns more
Please enter your postcode
Clients on the Curam platform pay on average 22% less than the
current suggested UK Home Care Association hourly rate of £25.95
How to pay for respite care
You can pay for home respite care privately, with assistance from the local council or a charity, or from a combination of those sources.
In some areas, respite care is provided as a result of your carer’s assessment, while in others it’s provided through a needs assessment for the person you look after. If your assessment or the assessment for the person you care for shows you need respite care, the local council should provide it.
You might be able to get financial support from the council to help you take a break, but respite services are means-tested, so you or the person you care for may have to contribute towards the cost.
According to the NHS, local councils will only fund respite care for people that they have assessed as needing it. If you want the council to pay for respite care for either yourself as a carer or the person you look after, you can both get assessments:
Carers should have a carer's assessment
The person you're looking after should have a needs assessment
If you care for a child, you might also need a Parent Carer’s Assessment or a Children in Need Assessment.
Once the relevant assessments have been carried out, your local council will determine if you are eligible for respite care and what type will be best for your requirements. In some cases, you may be given the choice of how the money to support you is spent.
Even if they don't want council funding, it's still useful for the person you look after to have a needs assessment, as it will determine which type of respite care is most suitable.
Some people with long-term complex health needs qualify for free social care arranged and funded solely by the NHS. This is known as NHS continuing healthcare.
However, NHS continuing healthcare is not suitable for those seeking to arrange respite care. Carers looking to source respite care should contact their local council and complete a carer’s assessment for funding.
With Curam, you pay for respite care through a secure payment system on our app or website. Your respite carer of choice will create a service agreement and shift invoice, which will automatically be sent to your Curam account for your approval.
Once you have approved these, you will be taken to the payment portal. Your payment is held securely until the shift is completed and is then released to the carer two working days after the end of the shift, minus the Curam fee. Shift invoices typically cover one to two weeks of care at a time, but specific payment frequency can be agreed with your carer.
Off-platform and cash payments are not accepted. These are liable to a penalty fee of £2,000. Please see our terms and conditions for more information, specifically point 9.3.
Why choose Curam for respite care
We know that care work is hard work – and we know that hiring a carer is an emotionally charged decision. We’ve done everything we can to make the process of seeking respite care as safe, seamless and stress-free as possible.
Choice is at the heart of Curam. By connecting carers and those who need care, we enable people to take control of their lives.
We’ve made it possible to hire a carer on short notice. In an emergency, you can share your needs with our carer community and get responses from vetted, available carers throughout the UK in minutes.
We are building a care community that allows each of us to live an independent life.
Experts and experience
Curam is a community of experts. Every carer on Curam’s platform has been interviewed and fully vetted by our recruitment team. They have had a DBS check, are legally entitled to work in the UK and any qualifications mentioned on their profile are backed up with certificates.
Self-managed
Curam does things differently. Unlike care agencies, we make sure the choice of care is in your hands. You can interview carers personally before hiring them and have a final say on what their responsibilities will be in your home.
Our carers are self-employed. Their Curam fee covers the cost of their insurance, easy-to-use service agreements and a hassle-free payment system. This means that the client pays less than they would with an agency, and the carer in turn receives a higher wage.
Individual support
Overnight care with Curam respects independence. It is tailored to each individual while allowing them to sleep in the comfort of their own home. Receiving care at home can be a safer and more cost-effective alternative to a care home.
How to find and hire a respite carer with Curam
To arrange respite care on the Curam platform, create an account . If you provide us with your postcode, your care requirements, your gender preference for carers and more detail as needed, carers that fit your demonstrated needs will then apply to your Curam account.
We recommend that you call or meet your carer of choice before contracting with them. Read our advice on interviewing a potential carer.
Alternatively, you can use our search tool to find a carer that suits your needs. You can filter by care type, condition, experience, languages spoken and more in your search. If you see a particular carer that fits your criteria, send them a message outlining your care needs and checking their availability.
All carers can be tried on a trial basis and any specific arrangement can be changed or cancelled with a minimum notice of 48 hours.
Please note that Curam does not provide managed care. It’s critical to our mission that both the client and the carer have choice and control over their care relationship.
Find & hire your Respite carer
Frequently asked questions
Respite care can last for anything from a few days up to a month, and sometimes even longer. Regular respite care can also be organised on an ongoing basis.
For hourly and overnight care, respite care is usually defined as fewer than five weeks. Live-in care goes from respite care to ongoing care after eight weeks.
Respite care is a short-term care solution designed to give primary caregivers a break from their usual schedule. A long-term change in care would not generally be considered respite care.
Thousands of happy clients have used Curam, you can do it too
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