Merton · South and south-west London
Respite Care in Merton for Family Carers
Time off for the person doing the caring, with a carer at home for a few hours, a week or longer, and help getting the most from Carers First and Merton Council.
Yes, we provide respite care for family carers in Merton. The break we can always arrange is a short live-in stay, where one of our carers moves in while you go away, rest or have treatment yourself. Shorter visiting cover is possible in parts of the borough where we have a carer nearby, and some people choose a short stay at our supported living home in Kingston upon Thames.
How do I get respite care in Merton?
There are two routes, and you can follow both at once: book a break privately with us after a free home assessment, and ask for a carer's assessment, which is the way to any council help. The assessment is free, so start it even if you're coping for now.
Carers First does Merton's carer's assessments
Merton Council has commissioned the charity Carers First to support carers in the borough, and it carries out carer's assessments on the council's behalf. You can register or make a referral through the Carers First Merton website or by phoning 0300 303 1555. If you'd rather go straight to the council, the Adult Social Care First Response Team takes requests on 020 8545 4388 or at ASCFirstResponse@merton.gov.uk.
The council says any carer who appears to need support can have one, even if the person you look after gets no services. If they agree, the council's carer's assessment page says you can have a joint assessment, with both your needs looked at together. If the person you care for has a learning disability, Merton Mencap can help (020 3963 0599). Carers First also issues the Merton National Carers Card.
What the council can offer after the assessment
If you're found eligible, Merton lists several kinds of help:
- Services that give you a break, such as respite.
- A Carers Discretionary Payment. This is a one-off sum to support you in your caring role. The council gives sitting services, a training course or a piece of equipment as examples of what it can be spent on.
- Benefits advice and referrals to support groups.
If the person you look after already has a council personal budget, ask their social worker whether part of it, taken as a direct payment, can pay for breaks with a provider you choose.
Breaks we can cover at home
A live-in carer while you're away
For a week or a fortnight away, a carer who moves into the house is the most dependable cover we offer anywhere in Merton. It doesn't depend on the long journey from our Lewisham office, because the carer only makes it once. They need their own bedroom, which most Wimbledon, Raynes Park and Morden houses have and a small Mitcham flat may not. A respite stay is also a fair trial of longer-term live-in care in Merton.
A regular afternoon off
A weekly sit-in so you can get to a Carers First group, see friends or simply sleep needs a carer who lives within reach of you. That is more realistic in Colliers Wood, South Wimbledon, Morden and Mitcham than in Raynes Park or Wimbledon Village. We'll tell you honestly which applies before you plan around it.
If something happens to you suddenly. If you are taken ill or have an accident and nobody can step in, call Merton's First Response Team on 020 8545 4388 in office hours, or the out-of-hours service on 020 8770 5000 in the evenings, at weekends and on public holidays. If anyone is in danger, call 999. Then call us. We'll tell you plainly whether we can get a carer into the house and from when, and we won't agree to cover we can't staff. Write down their routines, medicines and contacts now, so whoever arrives isn't starting from scratch.
Day centres and groups that give you a few hours
- Eastway Day Centre, 44 Eastway, Morden, is run by the council for older people, Monday to Friday, 9am to 3.30pm. The council says it gives carers respite, and transport can be arranged. Charges for Merton residents are on its Eastway page, phone 020 8274 5755.
- Age UK Merton runs activities and advice for older people and their carers from the Elmwood Centre, 277 London Road, Mitcham (020 8648 5792).
- Alzheimer's Society Merton runs dementia advice, peer support groups and the START course for carers of people with dementia. Self-refer on 020 8687 0922. The council's dementia page also lists the Merton Memory Hub in Mitcham.
For adults with learning or physical disabilities, the council runs the All Saints, Jan Malinowski and Leyton Road centres.
Do you have to pay for respite care in Merton?
If you arrange it privately with us, you pay our fee. We give a written figure after the free assessment, based on the length of the break and how much help is needed, and no prices before that.
If the council arranges a short stay in a care home, it charges according to a financial assessment. Its paying for care page says savings above £23,250 mean paying the full cost of temporary (respite) stays as well as permanent ones. It also says Attendance Allowance is ignored as income for a respite stay, though it counts for a permanent one. Our guide to paying for care in London explains the rest.
A short stay at our home over the Kingston border
Some breaks work better with time apart. We run three supported living homes, and the nearest to Merton is in Kingston upon Thames, next door to Raynes Park. From Wimbledon it is roughly 15 to 25 minutes by car, or take the 57 or 131 bus, or the train from Wimbledon or Raynes Park. From Mitcham or Morden, allow 40 minutes to an hour. Our other homes are in Whitton and Uxbridge, further away. Read about the Kingston home, then call us to check it suits the person's needs and whether there's space when you need it.
What we can help with in Merton
- 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 Merton we cover
Care across the borough, including these neighbourhoods. Each has its own page with local detail.
Our services
How we can help in Merton
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Merton FAQs
Respite in Merton: carers' questions
Questions families ask us about Merton. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionCould my Carers Discretionary Payment go towards a sitting service from you?
Merton lists sitting services as one example of what the payment can be used for. Check with Carers First or the council what your own award covers before you book, then we can arrange the sits if we have a carer near you.
I care for my wife in Morden. Could she go to Eastway one or two days a week?
Eastway is for older people and is open on weekdays, with transport available. Phone the centre on 020 8274 5755 to ask about places and charges, or raise it in your carer's assessment. We can cover the days it doesn't.
I'm having an operation at St George's. Who looks after Dad while I'm in and recovering?
Plan it as soon as you have a date. Tell Carers First or the First Response Team, and call us about a live-in stay that starts before you go in and runs through your recovery.
Mum has dementia and gets upset by new faces. How do you introduce a respite carer?
If we have a carer near you, start small: a few sitting visits before the longer break, so the carer is not a stranger by the time you go. At the assessment we note her routine and the things that settle or upset her, and we aim for an overlap on the first day so you hand over yourself. The START course run by Alzheimer's Society in Merton (020 8687 0922) also covers coping with changes like this. See how we approach dementia care.
Can someone from Mitcham have a respite stay at your Kingston home?
Yes, if the home suits their needs and there's space at the time. It's a journey of 40 minutes to an hour from Mitcham, so think about how visits will work. If the person has a Merton social worker, involve them, especially if you hope for council funding.
Nearby
Other areas near Merton
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