Overnight Care Explained

At Independent Living we are often asked about overnight care.  Like most care companies we do not carry out 30 minute or 1 hour care calls after 10pm at night.  This is for a number of reasons.  Firstly in the 12 years we have been trading the demand for these calls has been low.  Secondly, most of our staff are loan female workers and it is unsafe to have staff working in the darkness throughout the night with limited support.  Finally, at night we can provide different care services: the “sleep-in” and the “waking watch”.

The “sleep-in” is the most cost-effective overnight care, this is when the carer is at the client’s property and sleeps but can be woken up a maximum of three times in the night.  This type of support is ideal to help someone who only needs reassurance, take medication or go to the toilet.  This type of care is often used after a return from hospital, a short illness or perhaps a fall.

The ”waking watch” is more expensive because the carer is awake all night carrying out care tasks.  This type of care is often used if someone is receiving palliative care or has dementia and requires constant round the clock supervision. In some cases at first it can be unclear whether someone requires a sleep-in or waking watch.  Generally we start with a sleep-in but if we find the tasks are demanding the package has to be upgraded to a waking watch.  I looked after a gentleman in Leyland on a sleep-in earlier this week but it became apparent on the first visit that the customer was going to keep me up all night and any future care would be a waking watch!

Overnight care can work out expensive if used on a regular basis and in my experience for those on fixed budgets it tends to be used for only perhaps a few weeks or months.  The high cost of overnights is because we pay our carers at least the national minimum wage and over a nine hour shift this inevitably adds up.  Overnight care tends to be carried out over 9 hours from 10pm to 7am but can be changed, for example I completed 13 hours 7pm to 8am earlier this week.

If we can help you or a loved one please call Lilian or Amanda for an informal chat on 01257 696050.