Respite Care in Swanage

Swanage • Isle of Purbeck, Dorset

Short-term and emergency respite care in Swanage

Caring for someone you love is rewarding, but it is also relentless, and everyone needs a break. Respite care in Swanage steps in when you need time to rest, recover from your own illness, keep an appointment, or simply get away for a holiday, safe in the knowledge that your relative is properly looked after at home. We provide both planned and emergency respite across the Isle of Purbeck, as short visits or full live-in cover, so you can hand over with confidence rather than guilt.

We will be honest about how we work. Our head office is in the South of England and our Bournemouth office covers the whole Purbeck coast, so we do not run a branch on the Swanage seafront. What we do run is a responsive local service that understands the particular pressure of caring at the far end of Purbeck, where the nearest acute hospital is a long drive away and back-up is not always close to hand. Every Care Professional we place is enhanced DBS and right-to-work checked, referenced and trained, and we brief them carefully so they can step into an established routine smoothly.

When families in Swanage use respite care

• ✓ A planned break, holiday or time away from Purbeck
• ✓ Emergency cover if a carer is taken ill
• ✓ Recovery time after your own operation or illness
• ✓ Extra support after a relative's hospital discharge
• ✓ A regular weekly break to recharge
• ✓ Cover for a family occasion or appointment
• ✓ Visiting respite or full live-in respite
• ✓ A trial of care before committing long term

Planned breaks and emergency cover in Swanage

Some respite is planned well ahead: a fortnight in the sun, a wedding away, or a regular Tuesday afternoon so you can get to your own appointments and see friends. Some is anything but planned. A fall, a bout of flu or an unexpected admission can leave a family carer suddenly unable to cope, and in a town as far from Poole and Bournemouth as Swanage, help is not always around the corner. Because our Bournemouth team covers the whole Isle of Purbeck, we can usually arrange emergency respite within 24 to 48 hours, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays, across Herston, Durlston, New Swanage, Ulwell and the surrounding villages.

Visiting or live-in respite, built around you

Respite can look many ways. If you normally pop in twice a day, we can match that with visiting respite so the routine barely changes. If you need to be away entirely, live-in respite places a Care Professional in the home day and night, keeping meals, medication and companionship going while you rest. Many carers use a live-in respite booking as their first taste of care, then decide whether ongoing support would help. Whatever you choose, we agree the plan with you in advance and keep in touch with GPs and district nurses so nothing slips.

Respite after a hospital stay or operation

Respite is often at its most valuable straight after a hospital stay. When someone comes home from Swanage Community Hospital on Queens Road, run by Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust, or after an operation at Poole Hospital, run by University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, the family carer is frequently exhausted just when the extra demands begin. A few weeks of respite gives them room to recover too, while we handle medication, mobility and the day-to-day, reducing the risk of a readmission to a ward so far from home. As things improve, we ease back.

Funding respite care in Swanage

Respite is priced by its length and the level of support, so a single afternoon costs very differently from a fortnight of live-in cover. Many Purbeck families self-fund, but you may be entitled to help. Dorset Council can carry out a carer's assessment as well as a needs and financial assessment, and support towards respite is sometimes available. Respite care at home in England is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), so the standards are the same however you pay. You can read more on our paying for care guide, or explore all our services.

Areas of Swanage we cover for respite care

We arrange respite care across the town and the surrounding BH19 postcode and Purbeck villages, including:

• Swanage Town Centre
• Herston
• Durlston
• New Swanage
• Ulwell
• The Seafront
• Langton Matravers
• Studland
• Corfe Castle
• Worth Matravers
• Kingston
• Harmans Cross