How Many Hours of Care Does My Parent Actually Need?
Most families arrive at this question backwards. They start from a package someone offers them and try to fit their parent into it. It works much better the other way round: start from your parent’s real day. It takes about twenty minutes, and at the end you have a weekly number of hours and a weekly cost.
Step 1: Walk through a normal Tuesday
Go through an ordinary day hour by hour, from waking up to going to sleep, and tag each moment:
- A: they do this alone, safely, every time.
- B: they manage it, but it is slow, risky, or does not always happen.
- C: they cannot do this alone.
| Moment in the day | A / B / C |
|---|---|
| Getting out of bed | |
| Getting to the toilet | |
| Washing or showering | |
| Dressing | |
| Making breakfast | |
| Taking morning medication | |
| Moving around the house | |
| Making lunch | |
| Getting outside at all | |
| Shopping | |
| Laundry and housework | |
| Making an evening meal | |
| Taking evening medication | |
| Getting ready for bed | |
| Getting to the toilet at night |
Ask your parent and, if you can, watch, because most older people underreport how much they are struggling. They do not want this to be happening.
Step 2: The Bs matter more than the Cs
The Bs are where things actually go wrong. A B is a task that gets done badly or gets skipped: meals that don’t happen, tablets that are forgotten, a shower that keeps being put off. A house full of Bs needs care as much as a house with a few Cs. What helps is someone being there at the right moments, not someone doing everything.
Step 3: Group them by time of day
Care is not spread evenly across the day. It clusters into blocks: morning, midday, evening and night. The morning covers getting up, the toilet, washing, dressing, breakfast and medication. For most people it is the heaviest block by far, which is why the most common starting point is a morning visit.
Step 4: Turn blocks into hours
Think in blocks of two hours. A 15 or 30 minute visit sounds cheaper until you watch what actually has to happen in it.
| Block | Realistic length |
|---|---|
| Morning visit | 2 hours |
| Evening visit | 2 hours |
| Company and practical help | 2 to 4 hours |
| Half day | 4 hours |
| Night | A full night (see below) |
Add up your blocks across a week. That is your number.
If the council already provides some care, write those hours in first. In Scotland, people aged 65 and over receiving free personal care at home got an average of about 10 hours a week in 2024-25. Most families use private care to fill the gaps around council visits, not to replace them.
What the answer usually looks like
Most families land between 14 and 20 hours a week. With Viola that is £280 to £400 a week at £20 an hour. Very few start higher than that, and many start lower.
| Pattern | Hours a week | Weekly cost | Usually suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company and practical help | 4 to 6 | £80 to £120 | someone physically able but isolated |
| Two-hour morning visit daily | 14 | £280 | the most common starting point |
| Daily morning visit plus longer visits | 16 to 20 | £320 to £400 | |
| Morning and evening | 28 | £560 | confusion or tiredness is worst at the end of the day |
| Weekday cover | 40 | £800 | memory is declining or mobility is poor |
A worked example
Mary, 84, lives alone in Ealing. Her son works full time across London. Her mornings are hard: getting up is slow, she avoids the shower and often forgets her tablets. So the answer is not care all day. It is a two-hour morning visit every day, plus two longer visits a week for shopping and company.
| Hours a week | |
|---|---|
| Morning visit, 2 hours, 7 days | 14 |
| Shopping and company, 2 visits of 2 hours | 4 |
| Total | 18 |
At £20 an hour that is £360 a week. The Saturday and Sunday mornings cost exactly the same as weekdays. If Mary claims the higher rate of Attendance Allowance, £114.60 a week, that alone covers almost a third of it.
When daytime hours are not the answer
If the problem is nights, daytime hours will not solve it, however many you buy. Overnight care means someone is in the house for the full night. Two or three nights a week is often what lets a husband, wife or adult child sleep properly.
Consider live-in care when your total goes beyond about 50 hours a week. Live-in care in the UK typically costs £1,200 to £1,500 a week, roughly the cost of 60 to 75 visiting hours. Families rarely reach this point on purpose, so ask for a live-in care quote before you add the next block. A live-in carer sleeps at night and is there if something happens. If nights are hard and nursing is needed, a nursing home may be the right answer.
Three things that change the answer
- Memory. The need is not for tasks to be done but for someone to be present. That usually means longer visits.
- Mornings that are not really mornings. Plan for your parent’s real pace, not the ideal one.
- The family carer. A husband looking after his wife eleven hours a day is not a free resource. Carer’s Allowance is £86.45 a week in 2026/27 for people caring at least 35 hours a week.
Start smaller than you think
Start with the hardest block, not with everything. Starting big and cutting back feels like failure to everyone involved. Expect the number to change, especially after a hospital stay or with a progressive condition. Any arrangement that cannot be adjusted without a penalty is the wrong arrangement.
How Viola fits in
Viola introduces families in London and the surrounding area to vetted, reference-checked, self-employed carers. There is one published rate: £20 an hour, the same on weekdays, evenings, weekends and bank holidays, with travel included. A suitable carer can usually start within 48 hours. If the regular carer is unavailable, we introduce a replacement, and the schedule can go up or down as needs change.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours of home care does an older person usually need? Most families land at 14 to 20 hours a week, which is £280 to £400 with Viola.
How do I know if my parent needs care at home? Watch for tasks being done badly or skipped, not only the ones they cannot do at all.
Is a 15 or 30 minute visit enough? Rarely. A morning routine usually takes about two hours.
How many hours will the council give? It depends on the assessment and where you live. Packages are often small.
When is hourly care not enough? When nights are the problem, or when the total goes past about 50 hours a week.
Can I change the number of hours later? Yes, without a penalty, for example after a hospital stay.
Put your number into the calculator
The calculator on our home page gives you the weekly cost in about a minute. Or call us and talk it through with us.
Sources
Calculate your weekly price
The hourly rate is always £20, regardless of the day of the week, weekends or bank holidays. Travel costs are included, and there are no hidden fees or additional charges.
