Lambeth · South-east London
Respite Care in Lambeth: A Break for Family Carers
Someone to take over at home while a Lambeth carer rests, works, travels or goes into hospital, from a few hours to a fortnight.
Yes, we provide respite care in Lambeth. While you take a break, one of our carers covers the routine at home, either with visits or sit-in hours, or by living in for a short stay. A free home assessment comes first, so the stand-in carer learns the routine from you before you hand over.
Can I get free respite care in Lambeth?
Sometimes, but it is worth knowing what the council itself says: there is no fixed entitlement to carers' respite in Lambeth, and arranging it can take time. The route in is a carer's assessment, which Lambeth Council does by video call, phone or face to face. You can have one whatever the amount of care you give, whatever your income, and even if the person you look after has never been assessed or was found not eligible.
To ask for one, phone 020 7926 5555, choose Adults, then Option 1 if the person you care for has no council support or Option 2 if they do. You can also ask for respite during their care review. If your assessment shows caring is having a significant impact on you, the council draws up a support plan, and you may be offered a one-off carer's personal budget, which can go towards a break. The council's carer's assessment page sets out the rules. We give a written quote for respite after our own assessment, and our guide to paying for care in London explains the means test.
Carers' Hub Lambeth, on Brixton Road
The council's partner for unpaid carers is Carers' Hub Lambeth, an independent charity on the 4th floor of 336 Brixton Road, SW9, a short walk from Brixton station. You do not need a carer's assessment to use it. Its services include a carers' enquiry line, welfare and benefits advice, the Lambeth Carers Card, emergency planning, a monthly legal clinic and peer support groups. It also supports young and young adult carers. Phone 020 7501 8970, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, or email connect@carershub.org.uk.
Cover at home: an afternoon, a week or a fortnight
- Visits at the usual times. A carer comes for the morning wash, a meal or bedtime, the parts of the day you would normally do. This is most practical in north and central Lambeth: Waterloo, Kennington, Vauxhall, Stockwell and Brixton, which are roughly 20 to 50 minutes from our Lewisham office. In Streatham, Clapham and West Norwood, visits depend on which carers are free, so ask early.
- A sit-in. A carer stays for a block of hours so you can get to your own GP, see a friend or sleep. See our sit-in service.
- A short live-in stay. A carer moves in while you are away, anywhere in the borough, including the far south. They need a bedroom, which can be yours if you share the home. Read about live-in care in Lambeth.
When the carer is the one who goes into hospital
Not every break is planned. If you are suddenly admitted to St Thomas' or King's, or simply cannot go on, and the person you look after cannot be left alone, phone Lambeth Adult Social Care on 020 7926 5555 and say their carer is unable to care. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 999. You can call us too, on 0203 375 4047 or 07446 010486 (also WhatsApp). Whether we can step in at short notice depends on which carers are free, and we will tell you at once if we cannot.
Write the emergency plan now. Medications, the daily routine, the GP, who has keys and who to ring. Carers' Hub Lambeth helps carers put an emergency plan together, and runs the Lambeth Carers Card scheme with My Social, which comes with emergency planning support. Keep a copy somewhere obvious at home.
A fixed day off: Lambeth's day centres
Regular respite can also mean the person you look after going out. Lambeth's day care directory lists Clarence Avenue Day Centre in Clapham Park and Central Hill Day Services in Upper Norwood, both for people with dementia or memory loss, and Waterloo Action Centre on Baylis Road for older people. There are also centres for particular communities, including the Lambeth Asian Centre on Leigham Court Road in Streatham, the Lambeth Chinese Community Association on Stockwell Road and the Lambeth Elderly Association from Vietnam on Courland Grove. Council-listed places are offered after a needs assessment. A day centre gives you set days off; we can cover the mornings before or the evenings after.
A few nights away at one of our homes
For some adults, especially younger adults with a learning disability or autism, a short stay somewhere new can be a break for the whole household. Our supported living homes take respite stays, but none is in Lambeth. The nearest is in Kingston upon Thames: about 35 to 50 minutes by car from Streatham or Clapham via the A3, or 45 minutes to an hour by South Western Railway from Vauxhall. Our Whitton home is a similar journey from Vauxhall or Clapham Junction; Uxbridge is further. If Lambeth's Community Adult Learning Disabilities Team is involved and the council is paying, speak to the social worker before booking.
What we can help with in Lambeth
- 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 Lambeth we cover
Care across the borough, including these neighbourhoods. Each has its own page with local detail.
Our services
How we can help in Lambeth
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Lambeth FAQs
Respite in Lambeth: what carers ask
Questions families ask us about Lambeth. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionI'm 20 and help look after my mum in Brixton. Is there anything for me?
Yes. Carers' Hub Lambeth runs support for young adult carers as well as adults, and you can contact it without an assessment. You are also entitled to your own carer's assessment from the council. A regular break for you can be written into your mum's care plan.
My wife goes to Clarence Avenue twice a week. Could you cover a weekend so I can visit family?
Probably, with notice. Clapham is around 45 minutes to an hour from our office, so a weekend is often easiest as a short live-in stay. Tell us her routine and her day-centre days at the assessment, and book early.
My sister drives over from Croydon to help with Dad. Can she park outside his flat?
If he lives in a controlled parking zone, she may be able to get Lambeth's personal carer's parking permit. It is for family or friends who care unpaid, the carer does not need to live in Lambeth, and it needs a declaration from the GP or social services. It allows up to three hours in that zone's resident bays, and it is not valid on housing estates. The council lists it from £24.10 for three months.
Can my brother, who has a learning disability, stay at your Kingston home while I have an operation?
It may be possible. If Lambeth funds his support, the decision sits with his social worker or the Community Adult Learning Disabilities Team, so talk to them first and then to us about what the Kingston home offers.
The council said respite could take a while. Can I just book it with you myself?
Yes. The council's own guidance lists private care organisations as one way to arrange respite. You can book us directly and pay privately while a council assessment is still going on, and if the council later agrees to fund breaks, a direct payment can be used to pay us.
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