Take a break from caring (respite care)

How to arrange respite care, day support, overnight, or short break relief care.

Types of carers breaks

As an unpaid carer, having time away from caring is important for your wellbeing and ensures you can continue providing the best care possible.

Types of carers breaks include:

• day care: where the person you are looking after goes to a day centre or takes part in activities away from home
• relief care: a care worker staying with the person you look after for a few hours so you can go out
• residential or nursing care: a local care home looks after the person for a longer period

How to get relief care from us

To get relief care that we pay for, you’ll need to be:

• an unpaid carer living in Kingston
• over 18 years old
• caring for someone in Kingston who cannot be left safely alone due to illness, disability, frailty, dementia, or other health conditions​
• significantly impacted by your caring responsibilities, meaning you can show that caring for someone affects your wellbeing and makes it difficult for you to find time for yourself

Funding for relief care

You might be able to get financial support to help pay for a carer to allow you to take a break.

If you qualify, the types of financial help you can get are:

• relief care: letting you hire a care worker from an agency for up to 72 hours each year
• a discretionary payment: a one-off payment that you can use to support you in your caring role

Discretionary payments are not means tested, but are based on how much your caring responsibilities are impacting your wellbeing.

Check if you qualify 

If the person you look after meets certain criteria, they may be able to get help towards the cost of a carer coming in to look after them or visits to a day centre.

To find out if you and the person you care for qualify for council relief care, you need to have both:

• carer’s assessment: to check the eligibility of the carer
• care needs assessment: to check the eligibility of the person who needs care