Bexley · South-east London
Respite Care at Home in Bexley
If you care for someone in Bexley and need a break, we can cover it at home: regular visits while you go out, or a live-in carer who moves in while you go away. Visits are realistic across most of the borough from our Lewisham office, depending on carer availability. Short breaks of a few days or a fortnight are best done live-in, especially in Erith, Belvedere and Slade Green.
Start with Carers' Support Bexley
If you have not already been in touch with Carers' Support Bexley, it is the first call to make. The charity is based at Wolsley House in Crayford (020 8302 8011) and supports adult carers in Bexley and Greenwich. It offers information, counselling, benefits advice and support workers, and as a OneBexley member it carries out carers' assessments for the council.
It also runs a free respite service of its own, funded by the council. Trained volunteers come to the home for a regular break, either half a day each week or a whole day every other week, and stay with the person you look after while you go out. Ring the respite line on 020 8302 6579. It is a good service, and there is no reason not to use it alongside anything we provide.
Where paid respite fills the gap
The volunteer service has a limit that matters for many families: its volunteers cannot give personal care. If the person you look after needs help to use the toilet, change continence pads, take medication, eat, or get to bed, a break of a few hours has to include someone trained to do that. That is the gap we fill.
- Regular visits, for example the same afternoon each week, with full personal care and medication support as needed.
- A sit-in for an evening out or an appointment of your own.
- Live-in short stays, where a carer moves in so you can go away for a weekend or a fortnight. Most Bexley semis have a spare room, which this needs.
Visits are most straightforward in Welling, Bexleyheath, Sidcup, Blackfen and Barnehurst, all on lines that run through Lewisham. Crayford is further along the Sidcup line, and the North Kent line towns take longer to reach, so for anything more than occasional visits there, a live-in stay usually works better.
Can I get respite care in Bexley through the council?
Possibly. Your route in is a carer's assessment, which looks at the effect caring has on you and what would help. In Bexley you can get one in three ways: through Carers' Support Bexley; by calling the council's Single Point of Contact on 020 8303 7777; or online through the Bexley Care Hub, linked from the council's self-assessment page.
Breaks for the carer are often arranged through the cared-for person's own care and support plan, so it helps if they have had, or are having, a needs assessment too. Where the council funds support, it can be paid as a direct payment, which you can use to book respite with an agency like us. The financial side is explained in our guide to paying for care in London. We quote only after a home assessment.
If the person you care for has a mental health problem, Mind in Bexley runs a dedicated carers' service.
If you are suddenly unable to care, because you are ill or admitted to hospital yourself, call the Single Point of Contact on 020 8303 7777 and say it is urgent; the council's guidance is to ask for the Screeners. Then call us. We will tell you honestly what we can cover and from when, and we will not agree to something we cannot staff.
A day out of the house: Age UK Bexley in Sidcup
Not every break needs a carer at home. Age UK Bexley's day care centre at 7 Hadlow Road, Sidcup, offers day care for older people, with an enhanced level of support for those who need it and a dementia service run by dementia-qualified staff. Some families combine the two: a day centre on some days, a carer from us on others, perhaps to help with getting ready and onto the transport in the morning.
Short stays away from home
We also run three supported living homes that take respite stays, in Whitton, Kingston upon Thames and Uxbridge. To be clear about the geography, all three are on the far side of London from Bexley. Kingston is the nearest, about an hour by car on the South Circular, or an hour and a half or more by train. For most Bexley families, a carer at home will be more practical, but if a stay away is what the person needs, ask us about availability.
What we can help with in Bexley
- 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 Bexley we cover
Care across the borough, including these neighbourhoods. Each has its own page with local detail.
Our services
How we can help in Bexley
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Bexley FAQs
Respite in Bexley: carers' questions
Questions families ask us about Bexley. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionThe volunteer from Carers' Support can't help Mum to the toilet. Can you cover the same afternoon instead?
We can cover personal care during a break, and in much of Bexley regular visits are realistic for us. Tell us the day, time and where your mother lives, and we will tell you whether we can staff it every week.
I live in Belvedere and want to go away for ten days. What are my options?
A live-in short stay is usually the best fit. The carer moves in for the ten days, so the North Kent line journey from Lewisham does not come into it. We do a home assessment first, ideally while you are there to walk the carer through the routine.
Who does carers' assessments in Bexley: the council or a charity?
Both. Carers' Support Bexley carries them out as part of OneBexley, and the council does them through its Single Point of Contact and online form. Use whichever is easiest for you.
Can respite care at home follow on from a day at the Sidcup day centre?
Yes. A carer can be there when your relative gets home in the afternoon, help with tea and settling, and stay until you are back. Ask us whether we can staff the days you need.
Is there a respite home in Bexley you can offer?
No. Our supported living homes are in Whitton, Kingston upon Thames and Uxbridge, the nearest being about an hour's drive from Bexley. Respite in your own home is what we can offer locally.
Get started
Looking for care in Bexley?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.