Wandsworth · South and south-west London
Respite Care in Wandsworth: Breaks for Family Carers
A carer at home while you rest, go away or have treatment yourself, plus the Wandsworth Carers' Centre and council routes that can help pay for it or add to it.
Yes, we provide respite care in Wandsworth so a family carer can take a break. The cover we can offer anywhere in the borough is a short live-in stay, with a carer moving in for a week or two. In the east of the borough, around Battersea, Balham, Tooting and Furzedown, regular sitting visits may also be possible, depending on carer availability.
Start with Wandsworth Carers' Centre
If you look after someone in Wandsworth, the charity Wandsworth Carers' Centre is the first number to save: 020 8877 1200. It has supported unpaid carers in the borough since 1995 and offers advice, counselling, specialist support for people caring for someone with dementia, and help with emergency planning.
It also runs its own respite service. After the centre has assessed you, it can arrange up to 52 hours of respite at home through a partner care agency, to be used within nine months. Email Support@wandsworthcarers.org.uk to ask for that assessment. When they run out, or you need a longer stretch, we can quote.
For dementia carers, the centre holds two monthly cafes: the Sunflower Cafe in Putney and the Iris Cafe in Balham.
What a Wandsworth carer's assessment can lead to
A carer's assessment is the council's way into breaks and other support for you, separate from any help for the person you look after. You can start one yourself through the council's online carers' self-assessment, or call Adult Social Care on 020 8871 7707. The council's carers' assessment page says it prefers to assess you and the person you care for at the same time. You can ask to be seen separately, for example if you don't want to say in front of them that you are struggling.
If you are eligible, the council lists respite care for the person you care for, short breaks and leisure opportunities, and direct payments among the support it may offer. Breaks can be regular or occasional, and they can last from an afternoon to a few weeks.
Get a Carer's Emergency Card before you need one. Wandsworth's Carer's Emergency Card scheme helps you write an emergency plan and gives you a card with a 24-hour helpline number. If you are taken ill or have an accident, the plan can be put into action. If something happens and there is no plan, call Adult Social Care on 020 8871 7707 in office hours, or 020 8871 8999 in the evenings, at weekends and on bank holidays. If anyone is in danger, call 999. Then ring us, and we will tell you plainly whether we can get a carer into the house and from when.
Breaks we can cover at home
A short live-in stay
If you are going on holiday, going into St George's for an operation, or simply need a fortnight off, a carer can move in and follow the routine you've set. Because they make the trip once, it doesn't matter whether home is a terrace in Southfields or a flat on the Alton Estate in Roehampton. The carer does need a bedroom to themselves. If the stay goes well, it is also a fair trial of longer-term live-in care in Wandsworth.
A regular few hours off
A weekly sit-in, so you can get to the Iris Cafe, see a friend or sleep, needs a carer who can get to you reliably every week. From our Lewisham office, that is realistic in Battersea, Nine Elms, Balham, Tooting and Furzedown, which are 35 to 55 minutes away by rail and the Northern line. It is harder in Putney, Earlsfield and Southfields, and not something we would promise in Roehampton. We will tell you which applies before you plan around it.
Will the person I care for have to pay for respite?
Possibly. Wandsworth treats respite as a service for the person being cared for, because the replacement care is for them, so they may be asked to pay a contribution after a financial assessment. The council's charging page says people with savings over £23,250 pay the full cost of their care. The Carers' Centre's 52 hours are a separate scheme run by the charity. If the person already has a council personal budget, ask whether part of it, taken as a direct payment, can pay for breaks with a provider you choose.
If you arrange respite privately with us, we give you a written figure after the free assessment, based on how long the break is and how much help is needed. Our paying for care guide explains council charging in more detail.
Day care on East Hill
Respite doesn't have to happen at home. The Gwynneth Morgan Day Centre at 52 East Hill, run by Age UK Wandsworth and commissioned by the council, is for people aged 60 and over, adults with disabilities and adults with dementia. Its Daffodil Room is set up for people with moderate to high-needs dementia. A place needs a Wandsworth address and a council assessment through the Access Team on 020 8871 7707, and the centre offers a free taster day (020 8877 8947).
A short stay at one of our homes
Sometimes the break works better if the person stays somewhere else for a while. We run three supported living homes, and two are within reach of Wandsworth. Our Kingston upon Thames home is about 20 to 30 minutes by car from Putney or Roehampton along the A3, or half an hour by South Western Railway from Clapham Junction or Earlsfield via Wimbledon. Our Whitton home has direct trains from Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Town and Putney. The third, in Uxbridge, is a long way from the borough. Call us to check whether a home suits the person's needs and has space when you need it.
What we can help with in Wandsworth
- 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 Wandsworth we cover
Care across the borough, including these neighbourhoods. Each has its own page with local detail.
Our services
How we can help in Wandsworth
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Wandsworth FAQs
Respite in Wandsworth: carers' questions
Questions families ask us about Wandsworth. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionI've used my 52 hours from the Carers' Centre. Can you carry on where they stopped?
Yes, privately, or through a direct payment if the council has agreed one. We need to do our own free assessment first, even if another agency has been visiting, so the care plan is ours and is up to date.
My husband goes to the Gwynneth Morgan Centre on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Can you cover a Saturday?
Ask us. A weekend sit is more likely in the east of the borough, where carers can reach you, than out towards Putney or Roehampton. If weekly visits aren't realistic at your address, a short live-in stay a few times a year may suit you better.
I'm due for surgery at St George's. How far ahead should I book live-in respite?
Call us as soon as you have a date. Leave time for the assessment and for the carer to arrive before you go in, so there is a handover. Plan for your recovery too, not just your hospital stay. Tell the Carers' Centre as well.
Mum has dementia and finds strangers upsetting. Would a respite carer just turn up?
No. We meet you both at the assessment and write her routines, likes and what unsettles her into the care plan. Where we can, the carer arrives while you are still at home, so you can hand over in person. If she already goes to the Sunflower or Iris Café, the carer can keep that outing going while you are away, so one familiar thing stays the same. See our approach to dementia care.
Nearby
Other areas near Wandsworth
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