Sutton · South and south-west London
Respite Care in Sutton: a Break for Family Carers
Someone to take over at home while you rest, go away or have treatment yourself, plus the Sutton Council and Sutton Carers Centre routes that can help with it.
Yes, we provide respite care for family carers in Sutton. The break we can arrange anywhere in the borough is a short live-in stay: one of our carers moves in for a few days or a few weeks while you are away. Shorter sitting visits depend on whether we have a carer near your address, and for some people a short stay at our supported living home in Kingston is another option.
How do I get a break from caring in Sutton?
Two things, ideally at the same time. Ask Sutton Council for a carer's assessment, because that is the door to any council-funded break. And get in touch with Sutton Carers Centre, which is the borough's carers' charity and knows what is on offer locally. If you want to book cover privately, call us for a free home assessment; you don't need to wait for the council to do that.
Sutton Adult Social Care does the carer's assessment itself
In some boroughs a charity carries out carer's assessments. In Sutton, the council's own Adult Social Care team does them. Anyone 18 or over who gives regular, unpaid care to an adult who couldn't manage without them can ask, and you can refer yourself online through the council's carer's assessment page, phone 020 8770 5000 (9am to 5pm, weekdays) or email ContactAdultSocialCare@sutton.gov.uk.
The assessment can be by phone, online or in person, and it looks at how you are coping, your own health, work, other responsibilities, your free time and what happens in an emergency. If you qualify, you get a support plan. If you don't, you still get advice and recommendations, and you can ask for a reassessment when things change.
What a Sutton carer's support plan can pay for
The council lists respite among the support that can follow, alongside help with housework or gardening, safe lifting training, support groups and benefits advice. It may give you a carer's personal budget as a direct payment, to spend on the needs in your plan. One rule matters here: that budget can't be used to pay for the care of the person you look after. Replacement care while you are away is a service to them, so it is usually funded through their own assessment and personal budget, not yours.
On its carers' support page, the council names the kinds of break it can help with after an assessment: a short stay in a care home or with Sutton Shared Lives, a day-sitting or home care service, and day support. A day-sitting or home care service is what we provide.
What Sutton Carers Centre can do
Sutton Carers Centre, at Benhill House on Benhill Avenue (020 8296 5611), offers information, money advice, emotional support and groups, with dedicated services for carers of people with dementia and mental health conditions, and for young carers. Its respite directory lists overnight breaks, care cover and activities you can do with the person you care for. Registered carers can also be referred by the centre's staff to Carefree, a charity offering short breaks for carers; the centre says each booking carries an admin charge.
Cover we can give at home
A live-in carer for a week or two
This is the cover we can promise to look at for any Sutton address, from Belmont to Beddington. Sutton is a long way from our Lewisham office, but a live-in carer only makes the journey once. They need their own bedroom, which most Sutton semis can manage. A stay like this is also a sensible trial if you are wondering about longer-term live-in care in Sutton.
A regular afternoon off
A weekly sit-in so you can get to a carers' group, see a friend or sleep needs a carer living within reach of you, and in Sutton that is never a given. We'll check before you plan around it. Where we can't, the council's day support or one of the clubs in the Carers Centre directory may fill the gap.
If you are suddenly unable to carry on. If you are taken ill or have an accident and nobody can step in, call Sutton Adult Social Care on 020 8770 5000 during office hours, and 999 if anyone is in danger. 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. The carer's assessment asks about emergency planning, so use it to write down routines, medicines and who to call.
Breaks for carers of someone with dementia
Respite is harder to arrange when the person you care for is unsettled by new faces. Sutton has two places worth contacting first. The council lists an Admiral Nurse service, specialist dementia nurses for families whose situation is complex, for example high distress or a sudden change; you can refer yourself. Age UK Sutton's Dementia Hub runs dementia cafes, peer support and singing and exercise groups. When we cover a break, the carer arrives before you leave where we can, with routines already in the care plan. More on our dementia care.
A short stay at our Kingston home
Sometimes the break works best with time apart. We run three supported living homes, and the nearest to Sutton is in Kingston upon Thames, roughly 25 to 35 minutes by car from Sutton town centre through Worcester Park and New Malden. By bus, the 213 runs between Sutton and Kingston, or take the train and change at Wimbledon; allow 45 minutes to an hour. Our other homes in Whitton and Uxbridge are further. Read about the Kingston home, then call to check it suits the person and whether there is room for the dates you need.
What we can help with in Sutton
- 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 Sutton we cover
Care across the borough, including these neighbourhoods. Each has its own page with local detail.
Our services
How we can help in Sutton
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Sutton FAQs
Respite in Sutton: carers' questions
Questions families ask us about Sutton. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionCan I spend my carer's direct payment on a live-in carer for my husband while I'm away?
Sutton says a carer's personal budget can't pay for the care of the person you look after. Cover for your husband would normally come through his own assessment and budget, or be paid privately. Ask Adult Social Care to look at both.
I'm having surgery at St Helier. Who looks after Mum while I'm in hospital and recovering?
Plan it as soon as you have a date. Tell Adult Social Care, and call us about a live-in stay that starts before you go in and runs through your recovery. A short stay at our Kingston home is another option to discuss.
My brother has a learning disability. Is Sutton Shared Lives a respite option for him?
It can be. Sutton Shared Lives carers offer short breaks in their own homes for adults with learning disabilities, mental health needs and older people, but referral is through a social worker, so start there.
We live in Worcester Park. Is the Kingston home close?
It's the part of Sutton nearest to it, on the bus route between Sutton and Kingston, which makes visits during a respite stay easier than from Wallington or Beddington.
Do I have to pay for respite care in Sutton?
Booked privately with us, yes: we give a written figure after the free assessment, based on the length of the break and the help needed. Council-arranged breaks are subject to a financial assessment, and Sutton says people with over £23,250 in savings usually pay the full cost of their care. Our paying for care guide explains more.
Get started
Looking for care in Sutton?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.