Respite care funding
Throughout the country there are over six million family carers caring and supporting an elderly loved one or family member. Respite care at home is a short-term and flexible arrangement that allows for a person to be cared for in the comfort and familiarity of their own home by a professional carer, whilst a family carer takes a break from looking after their loved one. As with a permanent arrangement of care at home the carer will be trained to look after people living with a diverse range of conditions, including dementia, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) or for those needing stroke care, cancer care or post-operative care following discharge from hospital. Respite care at home also gives families the opportunity to try live-in care for the first time to see how it works and whether it is right for their family, rather than having the upheaval of a temporary move to a care home.
Funding respite care at home
If you need to a break from your caring duties with respite care at home, you may like to understand if there is any respite care funding available to you and your family. Whist many are required to self-fund their respite care, some families are entitled to a respite care grant or government funding for respite care.
Here we explore how you can secure funding for respite care:
Government funded respite care
To understand whether you qualify for government funded respite care at home, your loved one will need to have a needs assessment and the family carer a carer’s assessment.
Needs assessment
A social care professional from your local authority will come and meet with you and your loved one to find out how they are managing with day-to-day living and tasks. They will look at physical difficulties, health requirements, skills and abilities, the emotional and social side of their life and their needs and wishes. In addition, the professional that assesses you will talk to other healthcare professionals involved in the care including the GP if you give your consent. They will consider what support you need now but will also look at what you might need in the future.
You can apply for a needs assessment online here.
Carer’s assessment
To secure respite funding, the family carer responsible will also have their needs assessed to see how they are coping with their caring responsibilities to see if respite care might help so they can have a break. Other recommendations might be help with stress relief, like a gym membership, home help with domestic tasks and organising for you to get in touch with local support groups so you can share experiences with others in the same situation as you.
They will then conduct an assessment of your loved one’s financial situation to work out if they will pay towards funding for a respite carer.
If you or the person you care for qualifies for funded respite care you can ask your local authority to arrange the care service for you, or you can put the care arrangement in place and pay for it through your personal budget allocated by the council via direct payments.
NHS funding for respite care
Healthcare in the UK is free at the point of delivery. Therefore, if you have an identified healthcare need and are receiving live-in care in your own home, you may be eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding, which is arranged and funded by your local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). A healthcare need relates to the treatment, control or prevention of a disease, illness, injury or disability and the after care of a person living with these conditions.
Having a disability or having been diagnosed with a long-term illness may not, on its own qualify you or your loved one for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding. The assessment undertaken by the CCG must conclude that they have a ‘primary health need’ – that is that the overall need is health related and not considered a social care need.
NHS Continuing Healthcare is non-means tested and funding can be used to receive care in your own home. The level of healthcare funding available will be determined by not just your health needs, but the location of your CCG in the country, as this impacts availability of funding.
Depending on your needs and whether they are identified as a healthcare need, you may be entitled to NHS Continuing Healthcare funding for respite care at home. It is worth consulting your GP or other healthcare professional for further information and advice.
Respite care grant
It might be possible for you to access funding for respite care through a charity network. The charity Carers Trust may be able to help you obtain a respite care grant for those that are unable to afford the breaks themselves. Turn2us is a free online service that helps people in need access charitable grants and other financial support. Grants for individuals is another online service that enables you to search for funders and grants if you subscribe to their service.
Fuding respite care yourself
For many who do not qualify for funding for respite care or grants for respite care, you will have to finance a respite care package yourself. It is worth remembering though that benefits such as Attendance Allowance can be used for funding for live-in respite care.
Why choose The Good Care Group for respite care
We have been providing high quality, live-in care to families in England and Scotland for over 10 years. At the heart of our award-winning service is enabling people to live independently in their own home with an improved quality of life. Our approach to care at home means our clients can achieve improved health and well-being. For families, they benefit from peace of mind and reassurance that their loved on is receiving the very best care and support.
A perfectly matched care team
A live-in care service usually involves two carers working opposite each other on rotation. They will be carefully matched working with you and your family. We make sure they are skilled and equipped to meet all your care and support needs. Our focus on matching means the care team chosen may share common interests. We know this means life is enjoyable for everyone. Your care team really get to know you and your needs, which means you get consistency of care.
Expertly trained carers
All our professional carers are required to complete our leading training programme before they care for our clients. Our programme has been created with leading charities and clinical experts. It goes beyond mandatory requirements in the care sector. Carers are then equipped to provide high-quality care and support for those living with specialist conditions. Our carers never stop learning new skills to further enhance the care they provide.
Continuity of care
Unlike an agency, we employ all of our carers. This means they are committed to us, as we are to them. Carers enjoy the security of being employed, which means they stay with us longer. Those who work for agencies move around more. For families this means that you get continuity and consistency of the same care team caring for your loved one. This means high-quality care can be achieved with improved outcomes and no disruption to your loved one’s life.
In-house clinical experts
We have a dedicated team of in-house clinical experts. This includes a specialist consultant nurse, who also provides Admiral Nurse services to those living with dementia. They guide our carers to provide safe and effective nurse-led care at home. We also have our own in-house Occupational Therapist (OT) who works closely with healthcare professionals and our care teams. Our OT provides guidance and advice that enables people to live well in their own home with any equipment they may need. These experts lead, monitor and support our care teams to delivery best practice nurse-led care at home.
Innovative care technology
Unlike any other live-in care provider, we have our own online care community. Families, healthcare professionals and carers can access up to date information about the care being provided. It enables more effective monitoring, which means issues can be responded to efficiently. For our families it provides a reassuring window into the care their loved one is receiving. Our carers also use the online community to share ideas and support each other. It provides a vital connection which is important when remote working. Carers will use the online community so their clients can enjoy time online. This includes video calls with family, so they feel connected. Clients can use it to shop online or browse the web.
Improving health outcomes
Every decision we make is driven by delivering improved health outcomes for our clients. Our digital technology allows us to predict risk and shape the care we provide.
We measure health outcomes. We want to know we are improving the quality of our clients’ lives every year.
Our focus on health and well-being aims to reduce:
- Behaviours that may challenge
- Antipsychotic drugs in dementia care
- Falls in the home
- Hospital admissions
- Re-admission to hospital
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
- Chest infections
- Carer stress
They aim to promote:
- Independence
- Well-being
- Excellent nutrition and hydration
- Enjoyment in life
Highest service rating from care regulators in England and Scotland
Unlike introduction agencies we are fully regulated in England and Scotland. This means the care and support we provide is regularly inspected. We are the only dedicated live-in care provider in England to achieve an ‘Outstanding’ rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). We have achieved this rating in all five measures – safe, effective, caring responsive and well-led. In Scotland, our service has been inspected by the Care Inspectorate (CI). It has achieved the highest rating of a 6 (Excellent) for quality of care and support and 5 (very good) for staffing, management and leadership. We know this provides families with peace of mind that their loved one is receiving the best possible care.
A fully managed service
Families benefit from our fully managed service delivered by care experts. This means you do not need to worry about supervising and managing the carer looking after your loved one. Our professional carers are supervised by an experienced care manager and supported by clinical experts. We provide this support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your dedicated care manager will be on hand to support you, your loved one and our carer teams. We invest in our care management team to ensure they have enough time to give the support everyone needs. With our fully managed service, families do not have the burden of managing the care arrangement themselves. We know this means families can have peace of mind, whilst enjoying quality time with their loved one. They do not have to worry about the tasks of caring.
Local teams with national coverage
We operate throughout England and Scotland with a local approach to management of our teams near you. Each dedicated care manager local to you has only a small number of clients to support. This means they can provide higher levels of monitoring and support than other home care providers. It also means a highly personalised approach to care can be delivered.
The cost of respite care
Our costs of care for a respite is subject to a full assessment of your loved one’s needs. It is worth considering that live-in respite care is comparable to the care offered in a quality care home, with all the compelling benefits of staying in the comfort, familiarity and safety of your own home and surroundings.
How to arrange respite care
The approach we take to organising in home respite care is the same as with our permanent live-in care service. If you get in touch with us, you can speak to a member of our experienced team who will answer any questions you may have and provide any information you need to make the right decision.
We will then arrange a no-obligation home meeting with you and your loved one to discuss their needs and how we will to match the perfect professional carer for you so we can then ensure we get the right team and care package in place.
Seek funding from a charity
If you are unable to self-fund respite care and are ineligible for funding from your local authority you may be able to receive help from a local or national charity. Charities which provide funds to enable respite breaks for carers include The Respite Association, The Ogilvie Charities, The Victoria Convalescent Trust, and The League of the Helping Hand (LHH).
Care industry award winners The Good Care Group provides outstanding respite care services which enable carers to take time out from looking after their loved ones. Our short-term respite care provides expert and professional care in your own home. As a carer you can take a break with the complete confidence and reassurance that your loved one is receiving the highest possible standards of care and support tailored to their individual needs. You can read about our exceptional respite care here, or to discuss your requirements for respite care call one of our friendly and fully-trained advisors on 0203 728 7577.
Talk to us about your care needs
To talk about your care needs, contact one of our friendly advisors. Calls from landlines are free.