Before you book your break, please refer to the pages for each individual Centre or check the Compare Centres information to ensure your needs are met.
How do I book my break?
What age group does Vitalise serve?
I am looking for a respite break. Are your Centres hotels or residential nursing establishments?
How do we manage nursing care costs?
Do I need insurance?
What time should I arrive and depart for my break?
How do I get to the Centre?
What will happen at check-in?
What do I do about my medication?
What if I need to clean my clothes?
Should I bring my own wheelchair?
What's included in the price of my break?
What's not included in the price of my break?
How much money will I need?
May I bring a pet?
Is smoking permitted?
What funding options are available?
How do you determine your prices?
What do I need to do if my break is funded through direct payments?
How much deposit do I have to pay?
How accessible are your Centres?
What happens if I lose or damage my property?
How do I contact a Vitalise Centre?
How do I book my break?
Please see the How to Book page
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What age group does Vitalise serve?
There is no upper age limit at any of our Centres. The lower age limit is 18, except at Vitalise Netley Waterside House, where it is 16. At Vitalise Churchtown the minimum age is six although younger children may be allowed at the Centre’s discretion.
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I am looking for a respite break. Are your Centres hotels or residential nursing establishments?
Vitalise Skylarks, Vitalise Netley Waterside House, Vitalise Sandpipers and Vitalise Jubilee Lodge are registered to provide residential nursing and/or personal care. Guests do not have one-to-one care constantly, but our staff are on call 24-hours a day. Our Centres strive to give you a relaxing break in a holiday-type environment, rather than simply a residential placement.
Vitalise Centres are used throughout the year, and we strive to maintain high standards at all times. To ensure that we deliver 24-hour assistance, our guests can use an integrated call system that, on occasions, may be heard by other guests.
All Centres except Vitalise Churchtown are registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), who carry out regular inspections.
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How do we manage nursing care costs?
The prices (except Vitalise Churchtown) include the cost of personal care but exclude nursing care, which will be charged at the Registered Nursing Care Contribution (RNCC) rate (currently £106.30). Guests who do not give Vitalise permission to recover this charge, or who do not agree to undergo an RNCC assessment, will be invoiced directly for the cost of their nursing care at the RNCC rate (currently £106.30).
Please note service users receiving NHS Continuing Care Packages will not be able to recover RNCC from Primary Care Trusts and will also be invoiced directly for the cost of their nursing care at the RNCC rate (currently £106.30).
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Do I need insurance?
Yes. To ensure you have protection against the majority of incidents that can spoil or affect a holiday, all fully or partially self-funding guests and carers should take out travel insurance.
Vitalise has, in partnership with Crispin Speers & Partners Limited and P J Hayman Company Limited, arranged a travel insurance scheme for guests and carers.
For more information on this policy, or to purchase cover, please call 0845 230 0631 or write to: P J Hayman Company Limited, Stansted House, Rowlands Castle, Hampshire PO9 6DX
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What time should I arrive and depart for my break?
At all Centres you should check in from 12 noon. You must vacate your room by 10am on the day of departure, and the Centre by noon. At Vitalise Churchtown, you should depart the Centre before 11am. Arrival time for Vitalise Churchtown self-catering lodges is between 3pm and 7pm. Early arrival or late departure may be possible by prior arrangement with the Centre.
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How do I get to the Centre?
UK Centre breaks do not normally include transport to and from the Centre. Directions to Centres and travel information is available by calling the Bookings Team on 0845 345 1970 and in the Our Centres section of the website.
For people travelling by public transport, arrangements can usually be made with the Centre to collect you from the local train station, for which a small donation may be requested.
When travelling to and from the Centre, please ensure that you travel in safety and wear a correctly fitted seatbelt when appropriate.
We can arrange transport in Vitalise vehicles for groups travelling from a specific area to a Centre on certain weeks. If you would like to organise a group booking, please contact the Vitalise booking office.
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What will happen at check in?
When you arrive at the Centre you will be asked permission to take your photograph. This will be stored with your medical records in order to help us to ensure that we provide you with appropriate care.
We will then take you to your room and check the details of care with you. This will include checking your medical certificate and daily living care plan to ensure that the details are up to date and correct.
The staff will also carry out a number of risk assessments with you to ensure that you can safely take part in the planned activities at the Centre. As part of the check in procedure a nurse will also check any pressure sores or other wounds that you may have.
You may also receive a call just prior to your break from our nursing staff to ask you about your medical and daily living needs. This is to ensure that we can plan our staffing levels to give you the break you need.
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What do I do about my medication?
Medication can only be dispensed at the Centre if it is in the original packaging with correct typewritten or printed labelling. This must include the guest’s name, substance, strength and frequency of medication. This must correspond with dose and administration times in the medical certificate and sufficient stocks must be provided to cover the period of the break you have booked.
Prescribed medication cannot be altered in any way (e.g. crushed). Failure to comply with this may lead to future exclusion and will result in the Centre having to re-order your medication following your arrival, which can lead to inconvenience for you.
Some Centres, including Vitalise Churchtown, cannot give ‘homely remedies’ including over-the-counter prescriptions such as paracetamol and vitamins. Please check with the Centre beforehand.
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What if I need to clean my clothes?
There are facilities for essential laundry only. All clothing must be clearly marked with tape (iron-on tape is not advised).
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Should I bring my own wheelchair?
Yes, particularly if you need one for excursions away from the Centre. We regret that we are unable to provide wheelchairs. We strongly suggest that guests should make any hire arrangements well in advance of their visit. In the interests of your own comfort and safety, we recommend electric wheelchair users bring a manual wheelchair as well.
Wheelchair seatbelts must be worn when on excursions or if accompanied by our staff or volunteers. It’s best to bring your own seatbelt. Some may be available for purchase or hire at Centre shops.
Vitalise also recommends that guests have headrests fitted to their wheelchairs in order to improve comfort and safety when travelling on Vitalise vehicles.
Due to Health and Safety regulations, there may be restrictions for some people using certain types of motorised scooters/powerchairs on our vehicles. Powerchairs cannot be used on some excursions. Please contact the Centre in advance to discuss mobility options.
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What's included in the price of my short break?
- All meals – these are breakfast, lunch, including packed lunches on excursions, and a three course evening meal, including tea, coffee and squash. Alcoholic drinks are available at extra cost
- Towels and linen
- All in-Centre activities, including evening entertainment
- Excursions to local places of interest
- Personal care
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What's not included in the price of my short break?
- Travel/holiday insurance – all fully or partially self-funding guests and carers should take out travel insurance
- Transport to and from the Centre
- Wheelchairs - guests should bring their own or arrange to hire one prior to arriving at the Centre
- Entrance fees when on excursions, and any extra food or drink purchased on excursions
- Specialised equipment (e.g. Airflow mattresses)
- Drinks from the Centre bar
- External services, such as hairdressing or beauty therapy, supplied by people not employed by the Centre
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How much money will I need?
You will need money for entrance fees to local attractions and for the bar and gift shop. Most guests bring around £50.
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May I bring a pet?
Only guide and registered assistance dogs are allowed except at the Vitalise Churchtown self-catering lodges, where they may be allowed at the Centre’s discretion. Please contact Vitalise Churchtown before booking to discuss this.
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Is smoking permitted?
Smoking is not permitted in Vitalise buildings or vehicles and only allowed in designated areas in our grounds. Please note that we do not expect our staff or volunteers to help with guests’ smoking needs.
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What funding options are available?
Vitalise is a national charity. We fundraise in order to subsidise the cost of each break. Some breaks are also sponsored by our partners, the Alzheimer’s Society and the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Vitalise works actively to help people with limited incomes to enjoy a break at our Centres.
We help in the following ways:
- By providing information on possible funding sources from your local authority.
- By putting you in touch with other charities who may be able to provide funding.
- By offering a direct grant towards the cost of your break from Vitalise’s Joan Brander Memorial Fund. These funds are limited and we want to ensure that they reach a wide group of people, so grants are unlikely to cover the full cost of a break.
If you know of an individual who desperately needs a Vitalise break but cannot afford it, please ring Vitalise on 0845 345 1972 and ask for the Contracts Department.
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How do you determine your prices?
Vitalise subsidises the cost of each person’s break through our own charity fundraising activities, and the prices shown in this brochure have already had this subsidy applied.
Prices shown for guest and carer accommodation are per person, per week, with the exception of Vitalise Churchtown self-catering lodges which are per lodge per week. At Vitalise Netley Waterside House prices for the suites are per week.
The published prices (except Vitalise Churchtown) include the cost of personal care but exclude the cost of nursing care support which is claimed back on behalf of guests from the appropriate Primary Care Trust at the set Registered Nursing Care Contribution rate (currently £106.30).
By signing the UK Centre booking form, guests are providing Vitalise with permission to claim back the cost of any nursing support received during their break from the appropriate Primary Care Trust. This may require information regarding your care and support at Vitalise to be shared with the appropriate Primary Care Trust.
If your break is funded by a Primary Care Trust as part of a continuing care package, the fee charged for the break will be the full fee, inclusive of the registered nursing care contribution.
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What do I need to do if my break is funded through direct payments?
If you are funding your break through direct payments you need to let us know and provide contact details for your funding authority.
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How much deposit do I have to pay?
The deposit is £100 per person, per break booked.
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How accessible are your Centres?
We have audited our Centres. An Access Statement for each Centre is available by going to the Our Centres section, choosing a Centre and then choosing the Access Statement page. Alternatively call 0845 345 1970 to obtain the information by post.
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What happens if I lose or damage my property?
Vitalise accepts no responsibility for lost or damaged property.
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How do I contact a Vitalise Centre?
All bookings and related enquiries should be directed to our bookings office: Shap Road Industrial Estate, Shap Road, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 6NZ.
If you need to contact a Centre directly (for instance to confirm your travel arrangements), please use the contact details listed for your Centre in the Our Centres section or the Contact Us section.
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