Any carer can tell you that it isn’t easy work. Most carers are unpaid - often family members or friends. The work is not just five days a week between 9am to 5pm. Caring after someone is an all-day, every-day proposition.

But what does a carer do if they cannot be there for the person they are caring for?

Carers need to be able to take breaks, whether it be to recharge the batteries by taking a holiday or for their concerns, including needing medical care themselves. It simply is not possible for a carer to always be available.

Alice is 71 years old and lives in Victoria with her husband Andrew, her primary carer. Alice suffers from a mobility disability and requires constant support from Andrew. At the end of the month, Andrew has to go in for surgery, so he won’t be able to look after Alice during that time. She will need some residential respite care for just over three weeks.

MyRespiteAccom was able to help connect Alice with respite assistance. It is an online platform that lists all My Aged Care Government-approved Aged Care Service Providers in Australia with real-time respite availability. 

Alice spoke with National Seniors about the experience of using myRespiteAccom.

Alice: "My daughter searched for ‘Respite Booking’ in Google and found the myRespiteAccom website. She didn’t know there are websites where you can book residential respite. Using the myRespiteAccom booking page, she searched for residential aged care facilities around my home and sent booking requests to three facilities that supported High Care." 

She says it was easy to use and was like booking accommodation like an Airbnb.

It took her about 10 minutes to send out booking requests.  

Less than two days.

The Assessment team took less than two days to assess my file and contacted me once to ask for more information before accepting my request.

I was surprised that the respite booking platform exists at all. It only launched a few months ago, and I wish them well. Hopefully, more aged care facilities begin using a service like this. It is easier than making a lot of phone calls during business hours.

It was disappointing that two of the facilities we contacted didn’t reply, even though from what I have seen on the news, most facilities have vacancies. I feel these facilities prefer permanent residents over respite.

There needs to be greater transparency and accountability over why respite cannot be offered if there are beds available. After all, what is the value of the respite care days the government allocates if the residential facilities won’t respond to requests?