Barking and Dagenham · East London
Respite Care for Family Carers in Barking and Dagenham
If you look after someone in Barking and Dagenham and need a break, we can provide respite at home. That can be a live-in carer who moves in for a few days or a fortnight while you go away, or, on the Barking side of the borough, visits while you go out, if we have a carer free for those times. Before you book anything, ask the council or Carers of Barking and Dagenham for a carer's assessment, because that is how council-funded breaks start.
First stop: Carers of Barking and Dagenham on the Heathway
The borough's carers' centre is Carers of Barking and Dagenham, run by Carers Centre SA Ltd at 334 Heathway, Dagenham RM10 8NJ (020 8593 4422). The council's own respite page points carers to it for free support groups and activities. It runs free carer support groups and activities, gives information and advice, and can arrange your carer's assessment for you. It also runs Memory Lane, a dementia service for people with dementia and the family members who look after them.
None of this costs you anything, and it often sits well alongside paid respite. A support group on one afternoon and a carer from us on another is a perfectly sensible plan.
How do I get respite care through Barking and Dagenham Council?
The council's guidance on time out or a short break sets out the route. It has two parts.
- A carer's assessment for you. It is free, it has nothing to do with your finances or how good a carer you are, and you are entitled to one even if the person you look after does not want contact with social care. Request it from the Adult Intake Team on 020 8227 2915 or intaketeam@lbbd.gov.uk, or through Carers of Barking and Dagenham. The council's carer's assessment page explains what you will be asked.
- A needs assessment or review for the person you care for, because they are the one receiving care during your break.
The respite options the council lists include carer groups and activities; a short stay at a respite centre; Shared Lives, where the person stays with another family for a short time; and a care worker at home. Where the council funds a break, it can be paid as a direct payment, and you can use that to book respite at home with us. If you are paying privately, our guide to paying for care in London sets out the options, and we quote after a home assessment.
What we can cover while you are away or out
We have no office in this borough. We work from Lewisham, roughly 45 minutes to an hour away by public transport, so it matters which kind of break you want.
- A live-in short stay works anywhere in the borough, from Barking Riverside to Rush Green. A carer moves in for the length of your break, from a long weekend to a fortnight, and takes on the routine: personal care, medication, meals and company. In many Becontree estate houses the box room is enough for the carer to sleep in.
- Regular visits or a sit-in, for example the same afternoon each week, are most realistic in Barking, Upney and Thames View, closest to the District line and c2c. They depend on carer availability, so ask us before you plan around them.
- Dementia respite at home. For someone with dementia, a carer at home can be less disruptive than a change of surroundings. It sits within our dementia care service.
We prefer to meet you before the break, at the free home assessment, so you can walk the carer through the routine in person. That handover makes a real difference to how the week goes.
If you suddenly can't carry on caring, because you are ill or have been admitted to Queen's Hospital or King George yourself, ring the council's Adult Intake Team on 020 8227 2915, explain that the person you look after is now without a carer, and say it is urgent. Then call us. We will tell you honestly what we can staff and from when, and we will not agree to cover we cannot provide. Your carer's support plan should say what happens if your situation gets worse, so it is worth asking about that at the assessment, before a crisis.
Short stays away from home: Kallar Lodge and our own homes
Some families want the person they care for to stay somewhere else for a while. In this borough, the council's own option for people with dementia is Kallar Lodge, a council-owned dementia care home and respite centre. You reach it through adult social care, not directly.
We also have three supported living homes that take respite stays, in Whitton, Kingston upon Thames and Uxbridge. To be clear, all three are on the far side of London from Barking and Dagenham. Uxbridge is usually the quickest: about an hour by car via the North Circular and A40 off-peak, or around an hour and a half by Elizabeth line from Chadwell Heath to West Drayton and then a bus. From this borough, a carer at home will usually be more practical. If a stay in one of our homes is what the person needs, ask us about availability.
What we can help with in Barking and Dagenham
- Regular visits so you can rest
- Live-in cover while you are away
- Planned breaks booked ahead
- Cover if the main carer is unwell
- Dementia-aware respite
- Short stays in our supported living homes
- Help with the carers' assessment route
- A care plan the family agrees
Areas of Barking and Dagenham we cover
Care across the borough, including these neighbourhoods. Each has its own page with local detail.
Our services
How we can help in Barking and Dagenham
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Visiting care in Barking and Dagenham
Regular visits for personal care, medication, meals and company.
Read more →Live-in care in Barking and Dagenham
A carer who lives in, for one person or a couple.
Read more →Supported living in Barking and Dagenham
Our homes in Whitton, Kingston and Uxbridge.
Read more →Barking and Dagenham FAQs
Respite in Barking and Dagenham: carers' questions
Questions families ask us about Barking and Dagenham. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionI live in Rush Green and want a week away. Can you cover it?
A live-in short stay is the way to do it. The carer moves in for the week, so the distance from Lewisham does not come into it. We would want to visit first, ideally while you are there, so the carer learns the routine from you.
Who does carers' assessments in Barking and Dagenham, the council or the carers' centre?
Either. The council says you can arrange one through the Adult Intake Team or through Carers of Barking and Dagenham on the Heathway. Use whichever you find easier.
Can Dad go to Kallar Lodge for respite instead of having a carer at home?
Kallar Lodge is a council respite centre for people with dementia, so ask the Adult Intake Team about it as part of his needs assessment or review. It is not something we arrange. If he would cope better staying at home, we can cover the break there.
What is Shared Lives, and is it the same as what you offer?
No. Shared Lives is one of the respite options the council lists, where the person you look after stays with an approved host family for a short time. What we offer is a paid carer who comes into your own home. Ask the council about Shared Lives during the carer's assessment.
Can you cover the same afternoon each week so I can go to a carers' group?
Possibly, if you live on the Barking side of the borough and we have a carer free at that time. Weekly visits further east are harder for us to staff from Lewisham, so ask, and we will tell you straight.
Get started
Looking for care in Barking and Dagenham?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.