How far in advance can I book respite care?

Whether advance bookings are offered or not often depends on the availability of care home beds in your region.  Where there are no or few dedicated respite care beds in a region bookings may only be able to be made when a vacancy becomes available. This makes long term planning difficult.

For those regions where there are facilities with dedicated respite beds, bookings may be able to be made in advance.

Some residential care facilities are committed to providing this service and may take bookings as far in advance as needed (allowing you to make longer term plans) while others will only be able to take booking a few weeks in advance.

Remember; booking respite care isn’t like booking a hotel. There are health and other factors to consider. For some people their situation is quite stable but for others, things are less so. Providers are mindful of this. Your service coordinators /NASC will advise you accordingly and your care plan and respite allocation will reflect this.

Respite care cannot be used when the prospective guest is unwell.

Find residential care homes in your area on the Eldernet Residential Care website - once you choose the region you live in and the level of care you require from the drop-down menu, you will be able to filter for facilities that offer ‘Respite, Carer Support or other Short Stay'.