Respite Care at Home in Newark

Where are you up to?

Things have changed at home

A fall, a hospital letter, or managing less well than before.
A free assessment, usually within a few days.

Request a care assessment

Urgent: Leaving hospital soon

A discharge date, or one expected this week.
Care that can start the day someone comes home.
Forms received outside our office hours are reviewed when we open at 8am Monday to Saturday. For urgent matters relating to hospital discharge, use our fast-track form and we’ll respond within a few hours.

Use the discharge fast-track

Planning ahead

Nothing urgent, but you want to know what is possible.
What care costs, and what help with paying for it exists.

See what care costs

The short answers

What we do

Visiting care that covers personal care, meals and drinks, medication prompts, companionship, light domestic support and welfare checks.

Who it's for

A spouse, partner or adult child who is doing the caring and needs to rest, work or recover.

Cost

£31 per hour, or £17 for a 30-minute visit, plus a £2.50 flat travel charge per visit. Care is exempt from VAT. Full costs and funding.

Who will come

We aim to give each client a core team of up to four carers. Cover comes from our own directly employed team. We never use agency staff. How we keep care familiar.

Respite isn’t giving up

Most family carers think of themselves as a husband, wife, daughter or son doing what’s needed. But caring is hard on the body and the mind. Doing it without a regular break tends to lead to one place: crisis.

A regular visit from a familiar carer gives you time to rest properly. Time to attend appointments, keep working, see other family members, or sit quietly without being needed.

“I hadn’t slept more than four hours in a row for about eight months. When we eventually arranged for a carer to come in on Wednesday mornings, I used to just sit in the garden. That was enough.”

Signs a family carer may need some support

Signs that the balance has shifted:

You feel exhausted most of the time, even after sleep.
You have stopped making plans, because care needs always come first.
You feel resentful or guilty, or both at the same time.
Your own health, GP appointments or social contact has dropped away.
You are irritable or short-tempered with the person you care for, and then feel terrible about it.
You haven’t had a conversation about something other than care in a while.

None of this makes you a bad carer. It makes you a carer who needs support.

What respite visits involve

Respite care from Helping at Home is visiting care, planned around the routines of the person being cared for. Light domestic support is included where it’s agreed in the care plan.

How often and how long

Respite can follow a weekly pattern or cover set times. Common arrangements:

A few mornings or afternoons a week, freeing up predictable time.
Cover for a specific shift or working day.
An extended visit or overnight stay while a family carer rests, attends something, or is away.

We do not require a minimum contract. Start with what is useful and adjust from there.

Respite can also travel with you: we can send a carer to a lodge at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest.

Familiar carers, not a different person each time

If a different carer turns up each week, a person with dementia becomes anxious. A parent who resists care in the first place digs in further. We aim to give each client a core team of up to four carers. Read more about how we keep care consistent.

Costs and funding for respite

Respite care is charged at our standard visiting care rates. You can pay privately. Direct Payments are an option if the council has assessed the person as eligible. A carer’s assessment may identify support you are entitled to. It comes through Nottinghamshire County Council, or Lincolnshire County Council for Grantham and North Hykeham. Full detail on costs and funding.

What happens next

Call us on 01636 646915 or request a care assessment. We’ll confirm availability and arrange a visit.

We provide respite care in Newark, Grantham, Bingham, Retford, Ollerton, Southwell, Collingham and North Hykeham, and the surrounding villages.

Frequently asked questions

Do you provide respite care in Grantham?

Yes. Respite visits run across Grantham and the surrounding villages. Council-funded respite there is arranged through Lincolnshire County Council rather than Nottinghamshire. Private funding and NHS Continuing Healthcare work the same as everywhere else we cover.

What is respite care and how does it work?

Respite care is regular, planned cover that gives a family carer time off. A familiar Helping at Home carer visits at an agreed time and gives the support the person needs, while the family carer takes a break.

Can respite care help if my family member has dementia?

Yes. Familiar carers matter most for people with dementia. We introduce carers before care starts wherever possible, and aim to keep the same faces coming. That helps the person settle and feel less anxious.

Can I arrange respite care for a specific day or time?

Yes. If you need regular Wednesday mornings, or cover every other Friday afternoon, we will work to build that into the schedule.

Does Helping at Home provide overnight respite?

Yes. We offer both waking and sleeping night support as part of our overnight care service. This can be arranged as a one-off or on a regular basis.

How quickly can respite care start?

Call 01636 646915 and we'll discuss availability. Care can often start within a few days of the first conversation, depending on the rota.

Respite Care at Home