Respite care for family carers

How common this actually is

There are 5.8 million unpaid carers in the UK, and 1.7 million of them provide 50 or more hours of care a week, effectively a full-time job on top of everything else in their life.¹ The toll is real and well documented: 72% of carers report a physical or mental health condition lasting 12 months or more, three-quarters have experienced stress or anxiety because of caring, and 40% report depression.¹ Around 2.6 million people have left work altogether to care for someone, roughly 600 people a day.¹ None of this is a sign that someone is caring badly. It is what happens when there is no break built into an unsustainable rota, which is exactly what respite exists to fix.

What is a carer break?

A carer break means someone else looks after the person you care for, so you get a genuine break. A companion can visit at home for an hour to a full day, sometimes called a sitting service, keeping your relative company while you have time to yourself. Companions do not provide personal care, medication or anything clinical.

What respite care actually means

Respite simply means someone else looks after the person you care for, for a period of time, so you get a genuine break.² It is not one thing. NHS and Age UK guidance both set out the same broad shape:²³

• A companion or paid carer visiting at home, from an hour to a full day, or occasionally overnight.
• A day centre, with transport, activities and company included, giving you a predictable regular slot off.
• A short planned stay in a care home, useful for a longer break such as a holiday.
• Family or friends stepping in for an afternoon or a weekend.
• A sitting service, sometimes a volunteer, so you can leave the house for a few hours without worry.

None of these are mutually exclusive. Most families end up using a mix, a companion for the regular week-to-week gaps and something bigger for the odd longer break.

Getting it properly recognised: the Carer's Assessment

You are entitled to a free Carer's Assessment from your local council, separate from any assessment of the person you care for, and it exists specifically to look at your own needs, not just theirs.³⁴ Hertfordshire County Council's version covers wellbeing, whether you can carry on working or studying, and what would actually help, and it can lead to council-funded respite, an emergency "in case of something happens to me" care plan, and signposting to local support.⁴ It is worth asking for one directly rather than waiting for a crisis to trigger it. If you already claim Carer's Allowance, a short break does not automatically stop your payment: it can continue for up to 4 weeks in any 6 month period while the person you care for is in respite care or hospital.³

Local support in Hertfordshire

Carers in Herts, an independent organisation working alongside the council, runs a dedicated short-term breaks service, carer support advisors for one-to-one advice, an emergency care planning template, and a Carers' Passport discount scheme, and can be reached on 01992 58 69 69.⁵ They also refer into other local respite providers when a longer or more specialist break is needed. Between the council's assessment and Carers in Herts' own support, most families in Ware, Hertford, Hoddesdon and Broxbourne have more available to them than they realise, it is largely a matter of asking.

Where AirCarers Companion fits

This is one of the more flexible ways to build respite in around a caring routine, precisely because there is no contract to sign and no minimum commitment. You can book a single visit to cover a wedding, a hospital appointment or simply an afternoon to yourself, or set up regular visits every week if that works better, and change your mind either way without penalty. A companion can typically be in place within 2 hours of booking, which matters when the actual need is "I have to be somewhere in three hours and cannot leave Mum alone," not a need that can wait for next week's rota to be arranged. Companions do not provide personal care, medication or anything clinical, so this sits alongside a Carer's Assessment and council-funded respite rather than replacing it, it is the flexible, no-contract layer for the gaps those services do not cover.

We work across Ware, Hertford, Hoddesdon, Broxbourne and the surrounding SG11 to SG14 and EN10 to EN11 postcodes. Every companion is enhanced DBS checked, ID verified, insured and trained. Visits start at one hour, from £25 an hour, set by each companion.

Other guides families ask about

• Support for a parent living alone: the full picture, every level of help that exists, free to regulated.
• Working while looking after a parent, fitting caring in around a job without either one collapsing.
• Day centres and lunch clubs, a regular, predictable slot off if a day centre suits.
• Coming home after a hospital stay, what changes in the weeks after a discharge that often prompts the need for respite.

If you would like to talk it through

If you are trying to work out what a break would even look like, or you just need someone in place quickly so you can get out of the house, we are glad to have a calm, no obligation conversation about it.

AirCarers Companion · aircarerscompanion.co.uk · 07455 750006

Information correct as at 6 September 2026. Figures, services and eligibility rules can change, so please check current details with your council or the organisation concerned.

References

1. Carers UK, Key facts and figures. https://www.carersuk.org/policy-and-research/key-facts-and-figures/
2. NHS, Carers' breaks and respite care. https://www.nhs.uk/social-care-and-support/support-and-benefits-for-carers/carer-breaks-and-respite-care/
3. Age UK, What is respite care? https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/helping-a-loved-one/respite-care/
4. Hertfordshire County Council, Carers. https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/adult-social-services/carers/carers.aspx
5. Carers in Herts, Get information and advice. https://www.carersinherts.org.uk/how-we-help-carers/get-information-advice/