Epsom · Just outside London
Respite Care in Epsom: Short Breaks for Family Carers
Someone to take over at home for a week or two, plus the Surrey assessments, the break payment, the Dementia Hub and the carers' drop-in that can give you time back in between.
Respite in Epsom is usually live-in cover
Epsom is about 85 minutes from our Lewisham office by public transport, so visiting care is unlikely. We lead with live-in care.
A carer moves in while you are away or resting. Short visits so you can get out for an afternoon are rarely possible this far from our office; Action for Carers Surrey may know of a local sitting service.
If you look after someone in Epsom or Ewell, you are far from alone. In the 2021 Census roughly one in fifty residents aged five or over in the borough said they gave 50 or more hours of unpaid care every week. What we can offer is cover for a week or longer, with our carer living in the house while you get away, sleep properly or deal with your own health. Shorter breaks, such as a free afternoon each week, are easier to get from the local services below.
First, ask Surrey for a carer's assessment
The carer's assessment is the county council's, not the borough's. You can ask for one if you are 18 or over and give unpaid help to an adult who lives in Surrey. You don't have to live with them. If the person you look after already has a Surrey social care or mental health worker, ask that worker for the carer's assessment instead. Otherwise, use the online form on Surrey's carer's assessment page, or register with Action for Carers Surrey on 0303 040 1234 and they can request it for you.
A support plan from the assessment can cover emotional support, training, an emergency plan and a carer's direct payment. Regular replacement care is arranged differently: the person you look after usually needs their own needs assessment and financial assessment, and may pay towards it. Ask about both at once, so you aren't waiting on one to start the other.
Who can get Surrey's wellbeing break payment
The carer wellbeing break payment is a one-off amount on a card, meant for carers who aren't getting anything from the council yet. You qualify if:
- you are 18 or over, unpaid, and caring for an adult who lives in Surrey;
- neither of you gets support from Surrey Adult Social Care;
- you haven't already had a carer's payment, from your GP for example, or a carer break offer.
Apply online. Surrey's information and advice team then asks for one proof of identity and one proof of address, and if they don't arrive within two weeks the application is closed. The card can pay for a class, a hobby, a day trip or a night away. It can't be used for bills, debts, cash withdrawals or fuel at the pump.
A regular day off: the Dementia Hub in Longmead
If the person you care for has memory loss or dementia, the borough council's Dementia Hub at the Community & Wellbeing Centre on Sefton Road is the closest thing Epsom has to a weekly break on tap. It offers full and half days for people aged 50 and over, including people with confusion after a stroke or from Parkinson's. Staff can give medicines and help with continence, and the council's Transport from Home service collects people in wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
You book a free assessment first, on 01372 727583 or through the council's respite care form. A fixed day each week gives you something to plan around: a GP appointment of your own, a lie-in, an afternoon with friends.
People who know what it's like
Action for Carers runs a Carers' Hub at St Barnabas Church on Temple Road, Epsom, where you can drop in for advice and meet other carers. Times are on the charity's events listings. Registering with them first is free.
Age Concern Epsom & Ewell (01372 732456) takes a few jobs off a carer's list: its advisers can visit at home to help with benefit claims for people over pension age, and its medical transport scheme drives people to appointments, for a fee. Its Sunday Tea, on the second Sunday of each month, is an easy first outing for the person you look after.
If caring means you can't get to the library any more, Surrey's free Library Direct service counts caring responsibilities as a reason to qualify, and a volunteer will bring books to the house.
A week or two away: live-in cover from us
For a holiday, a family event or simply a rest, one of our carers can move in before you leave and stay until you are home. They follow the routines in the care plan: medicines, meals, the walk to the shop, the Dementia Hub run if there is one. They need their own bedroom, so think now about which room that would be.
Before the first stay we come and assess, at no charge, and try to arrange for you to meet the carer before you go. Book as early as you can, because short notice is the hardest thing for us to staff from Lewisham. A stay like this is also a low-risk way to see whether longer live-in care in Epsom would suit.
When Epsom Hospital is part of the picture
If the person you look after is admitted to Epsom General, Surrey's carers' hospital discharge guide lists an Action for Carers Hospital Carer Support Advisor based there for carers of patients. A Carers' Hospital Passport, from the nurse in charge or through Action for Carers, sets out the help you can get while they are in hospital and helps you and the staff agree what you can keep doing for them during the stay.
Carers have their own operations too. If yours is planned, book a live-in carer to start a day or two before you go in and to stay while you recover. The local trust does most of its booked operations at Epsom Hospital, so you may know the date weeks ahead.
If caring stops without warning. Should you fall ill with no one to take over, Surrey's adult social care team is on 0300 200 1005 in office hours on weekdays, and its emergency duty team covers evenings and weekends on 01483 517 898. If someone is at risk, dial 999. Once they are safe, phone us and we will say honestly if, and how soon, a carer could get to Epsom. Use your carer's assessment to write down medicines, routines and who to call, so whoever arrives can pick it up.
For the family carer
Support for carers in Epsom
Carers' services
Council support for carers
Surrey County Council, 0300 200 1005. Carers' information.
Day centres
Dementia support
Can the wellbeing break payment pay for a carer to cover while I'm away?
It is meant for your own break: the trip, the class, the night away. Cover for the person you look after usually comes through their own Surrey assessment or is paid privately. Ask Surrey if you are unsure.
My wife goes to the Dementia Hub on Tuesdays. Can you cover the other weekdays?
Not with daily visits; we rarely have carers living in Surrey. A live-in stay can cover whole weeks, with the carer still taking her to the Hub on Tuesdays.
How far ahead should we book a fortnight's cover in August?
As early as you can. We need time for the assessment, the care plan and an introduction, and summer is a busy time for breaks.
Do I need to register with Action for Carers to use the hub at St Barnabas?
The charity asks carers to register with it, which is free, and that also lets it request your Surrey carer's assessment. Call 0303 040 1234 to do it by phone.
I'm 80 and caring for my husband. Will Surrey still assess me?
Yes. There is no upper age limit; the test is that you are an adult giving unpaid care to an adult in Surrey. If they already have a Surrey social care or mental health worker, the request goes through that worker.
