Respite care across London, Essex and Surrey: how short stays work at Abbey Total Care's eleven homes

What respite care is, and what it is not

Respite care is a short, planned stay in a care home, with a room, nursing, meals and activities, for a period agreed in advance. It is for the carer as much as for the person cared for: a spouse who needs an operation, a daughter who has not had a holiday in two years, a son who works full time and is running out of leave. It can also be a trial period before anyone decides about long-term care. All eleven Abbey Total Care homes provide nursing care, so respite can be considered for people whose needs go beyond personal care.

Where respite is available

Each home takes respite guests subject to assessment and a room being free. The homes range from 25 rooms to 120, so availability varies, and it is worth ringing more than one if your dates are fixed.

How a stay is arranged

Call the home nearest to you with the dates you have in mind, or ring the group on 020 8505 2063 if you are not sure which that is. The home will assess the person before agreeing the stay and will want the medication list, GP details and any recent hospital letters. Ask for the room, dates and weekly fee to be confirmed. On the day, bring the medication, labelled clothes, glasses and hearing aids, and a few things that make a room feel like home.

Emergencies happen. Carers fall ill, hospital dates move, and family crises do not give a month's warning. Whether a home can help quickly depends on a room being free and the assessment being completed, so ring and ask what is possible.

What is included

• A furnished room, en-suite at most of our homes.
• Registered nurses on duty around the clock, with care staff.
• Meals, with diets discussed at the assessment. Bhakti Shyama in Balham has a Gujarati pure-vegetarian kitchen.
• The home's activity programme, lounges and gardens.
• Medication given by nurses from the current prescription. Ask how GP cover works during the stay.
• Visits from family and friends. Each home can explain its visiting times.

Paying for respite in 2026/27

Most respite is paid for privately, by the week. Two public routes can help. The person being cared for can ask their council for a needs assessment; if they are eligible for care, respite can be arranged through the council after a financial assessment using the 2026/27 capital limits of £23,250 and £14,250. Separately, the carer can ask for a carer's assessment under the Care Act 2014, which looks at the carer's own wellbeing and can lead to replacement care being arranged. Some councils also offer carers' personal budgets or direct payments, so ask what applies where you live.

NHS-funded nursing care applies when a person is assessed as needing a registered nurse during the stay. The 2026/27 rate is £267.68 a week, paid to the home and pro rata for shorter stays. The wider picture is in our funding guide.

Day care as the smaller step

Where a carer needs hours rather than weeks, our homes offer day care: the person spends the day at the home, has lunch and company, and goes home in the evening. Some families try it first and book a respite week later.

Respite for a person with dementia

A short stay can be harder for someone with dementia, because the move itself is disorienting. Three things can help. Try day care first, so the building is less strange before the first night away. Send the person's routine with them: waking time, breakfast, how they take their tea, what they watch, and the words the family uses for everyday things. And talk to the home about whether short, frequent visits early in the stay are likely to help. Every Abbey Total Care home provides dementia care with registered nurses on duty 24 hours, and the assessment looks at how dementia affects the person day to day.

After the stay

A stay ends with the person going home, unless the family has decided otherwise. Before leaving, ask the nurse how the person ate, slept and managed, whether anything has changed, and what the GP should hear about. A later decision about permanent care is a separate one, taken in its own time.