After hospital home care is the care that someone receives when recovering from an illness, fall, operation or hospital stay. It is normally a short-term, flexible care option which can help people of any age recuperate at home.

It is typically temporary care that helps someone to maintain independence at home. Post-hospital care can also be called 'convalescent care', 'intermediate care', 'aftercare' or 'reablement'.

After a hospital discharge, you may be looking for assistance in some of the following ways:

• Help travelling to and from the hospital and appointments
• Assistance with everyday tasks such as cleaning the home
• Prompting and support with taking medication
• Assisting with dressings and pain relief
• Supporting someone with their treatment or therapy
• Assisting with mobility around the home (e.g. getting up the stairs)
• Maintaining nutrition and cooking
• Assisting with shopping and trips outside of the home
• Helping with incontinence and bathroom assistance
• Preventing falls and accidents at home
• Assisting with personal care (e.g. washing and dressing)

These services can be provided by Curam's live in carers, overnight carers or hourly carers, depending on the level of care needed.

Carers are self-employed and set their own rates on our platform. The cost of care is often determined by the level of care required. Their rates vary according to the carer’s location, experience and qualifications.

The average hourly care rate charged by carers on Curam is £16 per hour, with rates starting at £13 an hour. Sleeping night care is usually charged at a fixed rate, with rates starting at £80 per night. The average live-in care rate charged on Curam is £880 per week, with rates starting at £750 a week. Carer rates include our fee of 12.5% + VAT.

To arrange after hospital care on the Curam platform, you can filter by care type, condition experience, languages spoken and more in your search for a carer. If you see a particular carer that fits your criteria, send them a message asking their availability and outlining your care needs.

Alternatively, you can tell us your care requirements and carers that fit those needs will apply to your Curam account. We recommend that you call or meet your carer of choice before contracting with them. Click here for some advice on interviewing a carer.

A specialist after hospital carer or personal assistant can support patients by offering the following care types:

• Hourly care
• Overnight care
• Live-in care
• Palliative and end-of-life care
• Last-minute care
• Specialist care

After hospital care is for anyone that is looking for assistance after being discharged from hospital. Post-hospital care can vary widely depending on the condition which you were in hospital for.

Some people may need care for just one hour every couple of days (e.g. to help with replacing bandages etc.) or you may need more comprehensive care in the form of an overnight or live-in carer.

It is advisable to try to arrange after hospital care while you are still in hospital. This will ensure that you can receive care as soon as you get home.

Yes, many Curam carers are experienced in physiotherapy and can provide this form of specialist care. You can either filter for physiotherapy experience in your carer search, or specify when you tell us your care requirements.