Barnet · North London
Respite Care in Barnet for Family Carers
If you look after someone in Barnet and need a break, we can provide respite at home. In most of the borough this means a live-in carer who moves in for a short stay while you are away. In the southern parts we can sometimes cover it with visits, depending on carer availability.
How do I get a carer's assessment in Barnet?
In Barnet, carers' assessments are carried out by Barnet Carers, an independent charity on Ballards Lane in North Finchley. They can be done by phone, online, or in a limited number of cases in person. You can contact the charity directly on 0203 995 1909 or adultcarers@barnetcarers.org. You can also go through the council's Social Care Direct on 020 8359 5000. The assessment looks at your needs as a carer, separately from the needs of the person you care for. Regular breaks can be part of the support it recommends.
Ask for an assessment directly. The CQC's 2025 assessment of Barnet's adult social care rated the council Good. It also found that some unpaid carers had not been offered a carer's assessment of their own. If you have been caring for months and nobody has mentioned one, that may be why.
Barnet Carers does more than assessments. It offers counselling, training, help with forms, a young carers programme, and information on short breaks. It is a good first call before you plan anything with us.
Two kinds of break we can cover
A live-in short stay. A carer moves in while you are away, for a holiday, a family event, your own operation, or simply a couple of weeks off. They follow the routine you have built, from medication times to how the person likes their tea. They need a bedroom to sleep in. In most Barnet semis, your own room or a spare room works for that. Because the carer stays in the home, this works anywhere in the borough, from Edgware to Whetstone.
Regular visits or a sitting service. This is a few hours a week so you can get to appointments, see friends or just sleep. Visits like this are only realistic in parts of the south of Barnet, such as Golders Green, Hendon and some of Finchley. Even there, it depends on whether we have a carer free when you need one. Our office is in Lewisham, more than an hour from much of the borough, so call us with your postcode and the hours you want, and we will tell you honestly whether we can cover it. Read about our sitting service.
Day sessions as a regular break. Age UK Barnet runs dementia day sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays in East Finchley and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at Station Road in Hendon, for people with mild to moderate dementia. Lunch is included and some transport is available. Jewish Care runs dementia day centres on its Golders Green Road campus and in Friern Barnet. Regular day sessions, plus an occasional live-in stay from us, make a pattern of breaks you can keep up.
When the break is not planned
Sometimes respite is needed because the carer is the one who is ill. You might be admitted to Barnet Hospital or the Royal Free, or need an operation at short notice, and nobody is left at home to look after your partner or parent. If the person you care for would be at risk, call Social Care Direct on 020 8359 5000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) and explain what has happened. If there is a safeguarding concern, Social Care Direct handles that too.
Call us as well. We will tell you honestly whether we can put a live-in carer in. Whether we can depends on who is available that week, and we will not say yes to cover we cannot staff. If you write down the medication, routines and key contacts now, a stand-in carer can pick things up much more quickly if a crisis does come.
Respite outside the home
For some people, a short stay away from home is the better break. We run three supported living homes, in Whitton (Twickenham), Kingston upon Thames and Uxbridge. All three take short respite stays as well as permanent residents. None of them is in Barnet; Uxbridge is the nearest, and our supported living page for Barnet residents sets out the journey. Ask us whether a stay would suit the person you care for.
Can Barnet Council pay for respite care?
It can, if an assessment shows that breaks are needed. That might come from your carer's assessment, from the cared-for person's needs assessment, or from both. The council can arrange the respite itself or give a direct payment so you can choose a provider. A financial assessment decides whether there is a contribution to pay. NHS Continuing Healthcare may cover respite for someone whose needs are mainly health needs. If you pay privately, we quote after a free home assessment and give no figures before then. Our paying for care guide explains the means test.
What we can help with in Barnet
- 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 Barnet we cover
Care across the borough, including these neighbourhoods. Each has its own page with local detail.
Our services
How we can help in Barnet
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Barnet FAQs
Respite in Barnet: carers' questions
Questions families ask us about Barnet. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionWho does carers' assessments in Barnet, the council or a charity?
Barnet Carers, the charity based on Ballards Lane in North Finchley, carries them out. You can contact it directly on 0203 995 1909, or start through Social Care Direct on 020 8359 5000.
I care for my husband in Mill Hill and want two weeks away. Can you cover it?
A live-in short stay is usually the way to do it in Mill Hill. Daily visits from Lewisham are not realistic that far north. We would do an assessment at home first, ideally while you are still there to show the carer the routine.
My mother goes to a dementia day centre in Hendon. Can you cover the days she does not attend?
Possibly. Hendon is one of the more reachable parts of Barnet for us, on Thameslink from London Bridge. Whether we can staff regular visits depends on carer availability, so call with the days and times you need.
Is there anywhere in Barnet itself for a residential respite stay with you?
No. Our supported living homes are in Whitton, Kingston upon Thames and Uxbridge. Uxbridge is the nearest to Barnet. If staying in the borough matters most, a live-in carer at home is the closest option we can offer.
Could my teenage son, who helps look after his grandmother, get support too?
Yes. Barnet Carers runs a young carers programme with mentoring and activities. Contact them directly. Building regular breaks into the family's care can also take some of the load off him.
Get started
Looking for care in Barnet?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.