Respite Care in Reigate for Family Carers

The respite we can offer at a Reigate address is a short live-in stay. One of our carers moves in for a few days or a few weeks and takes over the routine while you are away or recovering. An afternoon's sitting each week is a different matter: it needs a carer who lives close by, and from our Lewisham office that is rarely the case. Book early if you can, because a live-in carer has to be free for your exact dates.

How many people in Reigate are caring

The 2021 Census counted 2,953 people across Reigate and Banstead giving 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The share was highest in South Park and Woodhatch, at 2.8% of residents aged five and over, or 244 people. In the central Reigate ward it was 143. Fifty hours a week is a full-time job without the days off, and it is the level at which breaks stop being a luxury.

Asking Surrey for a carer's assessment

Surrey County Council's carer's assessment is the route to any council help with breaks. A few points surprise people:

• You don't have to live in Surrey, or live with the person. A son in Brighton caring for his father in Reigate can ask.
• You don't need the person's permission, and it doesn't matter how many hours you give.
• It is about you: your health, work, sleep and time for yourself. It is not a test of how well you care.
• If the person you look after already gets help from Surrey, speak to their social care team instead of filling in the general form.

The easiest way to start is Surrey's online form. Afterwards, support can include advice on benefits, a one-off payment, help with chores, support groups and access to respite care. Cover for the person you care for while you are away may need their own needs assessment and financial assessment. Having a carer's assessment doesn't affect Carer's Allowance.

The carer wellbeing break payment

If you aren't getting support from Surrey, you may be able to claim its one-off carer wellbeing break payment. You must be 18 or over and unpaid, the person you care for must be an adult living in Surrey, and neither of you can already be getting support from the council. You also can't have had a previous carer's payment, for example one through your GP.

You apply online, then the Information and Advice team calls and asks for two forms of ID, which you must send within two weeks. If you are eligible, a payment card comes in the post. It can be spent on anything that gives you a break, from a class to a night away, but not on bills, debts or cash withdrawals. Check Surrey's list of permitted uses before you book cover with it.

Where Reigate carers get support

Action for Carers Surrey, the county's carers' charity, is on 0303 040 1234. Its nearest hub to Reigate is in Redhill, at the Community Diagnostic Centre on the upper ground floor of the Belfry Shopping Centre. Opening times are on its events listings. It can help with the council's assessment form, and it hands out free In Case of Emergency cards that identify you as a carer and list your emergency contacts. Surrey also gives Surrey carers free use of the Jointly app for sharing care information with family.

Crossroads Care Surrey, listed on Reigate & Banstead's carers page, has trained carer support workers who give funded support to unpaid carers at home or out and about. And register as a carer with your GP: Surrey says it can mean flexible appointments, health checks and a flu jab.

Regular time off between longer breaks

A live-in stay once or twice a year works best alongside something weekly. Local options for the person you care for:

• Woodhatch Community Centre, Whitebeam Drive: council-run, open 9am to 4pm on weekdays, with a cooked lunch each day (01737 221 030).
• Merstham Day Centre, run by Age Concern Merstham, Redhill & Reigate for people over 55 (01737 645636).
• Dementia First in Bletchingley: day care for people with a dementia diagnosis, and groups for you (01883 818310).
• Redhill Dementia Café, run weekly by MHA Communities East Surrey at Silvermere on Woodlands Road.

For advice about dementia between sessions, the Admiral Nurse helpline, run by Dementia UK, is on 0800 888 6678, and Alzheimer's Society's Dementia Support Line on 0333 150 3456.

When the break is for your own hospital stay

A planned operation at East Surrey Hospital is one of the most common reasons Reigate carers need cover. Give yourself as much notice as you can. Tell the ward you are a carer, and ask a nurse to refer you to the Hospital Carer Support Advisor from Action for Carers, who is based at East Surrey. If it is the person you care for who goes into East Surrey, ask the nurse in charge for a Carers' Hospital Passport. It sets out the support you can get and what you can keep doing for them on the ward.

If you are suddenly unable to care and nobody can step in, ring Surrey Adult Social Care on 0300 200 1005 in office hours, or the out-of-hours duty team on 01483 517 898. Call 999 if anyone is in danger. Then ring us: we will tell you honestly whether we can get a live-in carer to Reigate, and from when.

How a short live-in stay works with us

We visit first for a free assessment and write down the routines, medicines, likes and worries. Where we can, the carer arrives a little before you leave so you can hand over in person. They need a bedroom of their own for the stay, which most Reigate semis and detached houses can manage. A first break also works as a trial: if it goes well, longer-term live-in care in Reigate may be worth considering later.

How respite care works →