Short-term care

Find short-term care for a few weeks

After hospital, returning home is not yet possible, or you as a family carer are unavailable for a while? Short-term care bridges a limited period in a care facility. State the period once – the registered care providers in the service area that offer short-term care are notified.

Start a care request

Typical reasons for short-term care

after an operation or a hospital stay, as long as not everything is arranged at home yet
when the person who usually provides care needs a holiday or falls ill
in a crisis in which care at home is temporarily not enough
as a transition until a permanent care home place becomes free

What a short-term care request needs

Period

From when to when – with a start and end date or an approximate duration. A clear period helps the facility plan its places.

Region

Postcode and town near which the facility should be.

Help in everyday life

What support is needed, for example with getting up, personal hygiene or medication.

What happens afterwards

Back home, with a home care service or permanently into a care home – if you already know.

How to get a short-term care place

1. Fix the period

Clarify from when and for how long a place is needed – for example with the hospital's social services.

2. Post the request

In the portal you choose short-term care and enter the period.

3. Check the responses

Facilities with short-term care in the service area express interest, ask questions or decline.

4. Confirm the place

You select a facility, both sides confirm. You conclude the contract with the facility.

Requesting early pays off

Post the request as soon as the period is foreseeable – when the discharge date is fixed or the holiday is planned. The earlier facilities know about it, the better they can check whether a place is free.

Whether a facility can offer the requested period is up to the facility. A response is not yet a commitment.

Other types of care compared

If care is needed permanently, a care home place is the right type. If the person is to stay at home, a home care service or day care can help.

Questions about short-term care

Pflege Patienten is organised regionally. If no matching home care services or care providers are registered for the place you entered yet, nobody is notified of your request and you will not receive any responses. In that case, contact care providers near you directly at the same time, or a local care advice service, for example a care support centre or your long-term care insurance fund. The page 'Regional participation' shows the current status. Whether participating providers can be reached at your place is shown by the care request assistant, before you create an account.

Yes. In the portal you edit your request, drop services that are no longer needed or end the request, for example once you have arranged the care elsewhere. If no takeover has been agreed for any service after 14 days, the request is closed as 'not placed'; on day 11 you receive an advance warning.

No. Pflege Patienten is not an emergency or acute care service. In an emergency, call 112; outside surgery hours you can reach the medical on-call service on 116 117.

Posting is free of charge – registering and posting a request cost private individuals nothing at Pflege Patienten. This only concerns the platform: what the care itself costs and which services your long-term care insurance fund (Pflegekasse) or health insurance fund covers is something you clarify with the care provider and with your fund.

Request short-term care

Posting is free of charge. You enter the period in the protected portal.