Carers Respite Service

Croydon Council has commissioned the Carers Information Service to provide a free, fully funded home-based respite service for registered carers in Croydon who need a break from their caring role (funding subject to availability). Although we are not a respite service provider ourselves, we work closely with CQC approved care providers and will liaise with them to arrange the service on your behalf. Once awarded, there is an expectation that the service will start within 2-3 weeks. We will then pay for the hours that you use, up to 50 hours in total. The minimum usage is for 3 hours a week, and the minimum visit time is 1 hour.

To apply to use the service, you must be an adult and caring for another adult aged 18 and over and the cared for person must be resident in the London Borough of Croydon. As the aim is to support carers who are not getting a break, the person you care for cannot currently be receiving a Croydon Council funded care package, such as a direct payment, domiciliary care, day service or sitting service.

The Carers Respite Service can help you to take a break from your caring role. You could use it so that the person you care for can be left at home safely with a care worker, while you go out of the house, or you could stay at home but spend the time doing something for yourself. Some examples of how people have used their break:

• A weekly meet-up with a friend for a walk.

• An online course.

• Taking part in health and wellbeing activities, provided by the Carers Information Service.

• Catching up on some rest and relaxation at home.

• Shopping and doing errands.

The choice of course is yours and you can use the hours flexibly.

The Carers Respite Service is fully funded by Croydon Council, so there is no charge to you or the person you care for and we take care of reimbursing the home-care provider for the service they provide. You do not need to tell us about any savings or income belonging to either yourself or the person you care for and it won’t affect any of your benefits, or those of the person you care for.

We’ll have a chat with you about your situation and if you meet the criteria, we'll liaise with a local Care Quality Commission (CQC) approved home-care provider to arrange a respite service that best suits your needs. The home-care provider will do their best to provide continuity of staff and there is a greater chance of your cared-for having the same person if you book in regular time slots. Once you have started your respite, the care provider will invoice us for the hours you use (up to a total of 50). As this service is for carers who are currently in need of respite, we would expect these hours to be used on a regular basis and there is an expectation that the service should start soon after you are allocated your hours. You may use the hours regularly over the course of a few weeks or months or use the allocation in one go at the beginning of the service, e.g. consecutive days of care.

The minimum care visit is 1 hour, and the minimum usage is 3 hours per week. You can use the service on Bank Holidays, but as many agencies double the hourly

In the first instance, you would need to talk to the care provider directly about this, where hopefully the issue can be resolved. If this is not possible, then we would liaise with the family and care provider and look at possibly changing agencies to another one on our list. 

All care providers are regulated by the Care Quality Commission, further information can be found on their website, including inspection reports and ratings: www.cqc.org.uk or call them on 03000 616161.

In the first instance, you would need to talk to the care provider directly about this, where hopefully the issue can be resolved. If this is not possible, then we would liaise with the family and care provider and look at possibly changing agencies to another one on our list. All care providers are regulated by the Care Quality Commission, further information can be found on their website, including inspection reports and ratings: www.cqc.org.uk or call 03000 616 161.

You can continue to receive a service with the care provider you have been using (or another of your choice), by self-funding the hours you use. Alternatively, you can make a referral to Croydon Council asking for a needs assessment for the person you care for. If they assess the person you care for as requiring support, they will be financially assessed to determine whether they need to pay for all or part of their care. Our factsheet, Getting Support from Social Care, explains the process in more detail and is available from our website at: www.carersinfo.org.uk/useful-i..., or we can send it to you.

For more information about Croydon Council’s support, you can telephone Adult Social Care on 020 8726 6500, or complete a referral online: https://new.croydon.gov.uk/adu.... 

The criteria states that the person you care for must be resident in the London Borough of Croydon.

The criteria for the service states that you must be an adult, caring for an adult, aged 18 or over. There are specialist short-break and play services for children, some can be accessed independently while others require an assessment and referral from Croydon Council’s 0-25 Children with Disabilities Social Care Service. You can also request a parent carer needs assessment under the Children and Families Act 2014. This is separate to your child's assessment.

The criteria for the service states that you must be an adult, caring for an adult, aged 18 or over. If you are under 18 and looking after someone, then you can get support, including a Young Carer’s Assessment, from the Off the Record Young Carers Service. The assessment will let you know what kind of help is available to young carers and any respite activities that you can join in with. To contact the service, call 020 8251 0251 or email youngcarers@talkofftherecord.org, or go to: www.talkofftherecord.org/croydon/young-carers-service/