Caregiver Services
for UK Families.
Caregiver services in Sri Lanka for UK families exist because the NHS stops at the border. Your parents are ageing in Colombo, or they retired back there after decades in Britain. BetterHands places a vetted carer in their home and writes to you after every shift, so families across the United Kingdom are never guessing.
Read it after lunch
Not the following morning
7
UK cities covered
1,000+
Carer profiles
Vetted and reference-checked
14 Days
Placement guarantee
Or we escalate immediately
96%
First-match success
50+ matching factors
PHSRC
Registered nurses
For clinical home nursing
The oldest diaspora of the four
Why UK Families Arrange Caregiver Services in Sri Lanka.
Britain's Sri Lankan community is the longest established of any we serve. Families arrived across several generations, and the pattern shows in who rings us.
Often it is not the person who emigrated. It is their British-born child, now in their forties, arranging care for a grandparent they have visited every few years since childhood.
That generational distance brings a particular difficulty. Your Sinhala or Tamil may be rusty. You may not know the neighbours' names, or which cousin to ring. Professional caregiver services remove the need to know any of it.
- Elderly care at home arranged entirely from the United Kingdom
- Home nursing care for diabetes, cardiac and post-stroke conditions
- A written welfare update in English after every shift
- One coordination team who will speak to your parents in their own language
Care for Parents Who Retired Back to Sri Lanka.
This pattern is far more common among UK families than Australian or New Zealand ones, and it creates its own problems.
They gave up the NHS
Decades of National Insurance contributions do not buy healthcare abroad. Once resident in Sri Lanka, your parents are private patients like anyone else.
Benefits usually stop
Attendance Allowance and comparable payments generally end after an extended absence from Britain. The rules turn on length and permanence of absence.
Pension uprating varies
Annual State Pension increases are not paid everywhere. Whether they apply depends on reciprocal agreements, so this is worth checking properly.
Many parents make the move in good health and manage happily for years. The difficulty arrives later, usually after a fall or a diagnosis, when the support network they left behind in Harrow or Croydon is four thousand miles away.
Because entitlements depend on individual circumstances, confirm your parents' position on GOV.UK rather than relying on what a relative was told years ago. Care itself is simpler to answer: it is private, and Sri Lankan rates make daily in-home support affordable on a British income.
Arranged from your kitchen table
How BetterHands Supports Families in the United Kingdom.
Five steps. None of them require you to book a flight first.
01
Tell us what worries you
One call or WhatsApp message, timed for your afternoon or evening. No forms, no obligation, no cost.
02
We assess in person
Our team visits your parents at home in Sri Lanka. We look at mobility, medication, the house itself, and what they will realistically accept.
03
We match a carer
Matching runs on language, temperament, clinical need and location. You review the profile from the UK before anybody starts.
04
Updates after every shift
Meals, medication, mobility and mood, written in English and sent by WhatsApp. It lands during your afternoon.
05
Wrong fit? Replaced free
Unlimited replacements under the annual membership. Judging a match from Britain is hard, so we removed the cap.
British-born children of the diaspora often raise the same concern at step three. They worry that a carer will speak to their mother in a way they cannot themselves supervise, because their own Sinhala or Tamil is limited.
We handle that by keeping the reporting in English whilst the care itself happens in your parents' language. You read a clear written account; your mother has a conversation she can relax into. Neither of you has to translate anything.
Resistance from parents is the other frequent worry. It is rarely about the care and almost always about not wanting to be a burden. Many families therefore begin with companion care rather than clinical support, since company is far easier to accept than help.
Closer than you think
How Care Works Across the UK–Sri Lanka Time Difference.
Greenwich Mean Time
5½ hours
Sri Lanka is ahead of you, October to March
British Summer Time
4½ hours
The gap narrows, March to October
Direct flights
~11 hours
London to Colombo without changing planes
The UK sits behind Sri Lanka rather than ahead of it, which suits families better than most realise. When your working day begins, your parents are already well into the afternoon. A morning call catches them awake and unhurried.
Carers write the welfare update at the close of the Sri Lankan evening. That reaches London, Leeds or Reading in the middle of your afternoon, so you read it during the day rather than discovering it at breakfast the next morning.
Britain also has the shortest journey of any country we serve. Direct flights from London reach Colombo in roughly eleven hours, which means a genuine emergency need not become a two-day expedition. Regular care still matters, but the safety net is closer.
Wherever you settled
Caregiver Services in Sri Lanka by UK City.
The care happens in Sri Lanka. These are the British cities our families contact us from.
British Sri Lankans are spread far more widely than the Australian or New Zealand communities. London carries the largest share, around Harrow, Wembley, Tooting and Croydon, but it is nothing like the whole picture.
Leicester, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Reading all hold established communities in their own right. Leicester in particular has a long South Asian history that predates most of the Australian settlement entirely.
Consequently we treat these as separate places rather than London satellites. A family in Leeds has a different network, and different expectations, from one in Croydon.
The conversation before the decision
When Siblings Across the UK Cannot Agree on Care.
Older, larger families mean more people with an opinion. This holds up more UK placements than cost ever does.
How the disagreement usually runs
- One sibling visits often and sees the decline clearly
- Another visited last year and remembers Dad managing fine
- Somebody worries a carer means giving up on the family
- Somebody else quietly resents carrying it alone
- A cousin in Colombo has views but no formal say
- Nobody wants to be the one who decides for a parent
What tends to settle it
- A written assessment everyone reads at the same time
- Starting with fewer hours than the most worried sibling wants
- Naming one person as the point of contact for our team
- Sharing the same welfare updates with the whole family
- Agreeing to review after a month rather than deciding forever
- Letting your parents hear the plan before it is finalised
British Sri Lankan families are frequently larger and more scattered than their Australian counterparts. Three siblings in London, Leicester and Manchester will each have formed a different picture of the same parent, based on different visits in different years.
The written assessment is genuinely useful here, and not only for us. It gives everyone one shared account of what is actually happening, rather than three competing memories. Arguments about whether Amma is coping tend to fade once somebody has written down what she can and cannot do.
We also send welfare updates to more than one family member on request. Shared visibility removes the suspicion that whoever arranged the care is managing the story. Everybody reads the same thing on the same afternoon.
Straight answers
What UK Families Ask Before They Commit.
How much does home care in Sri Lanka cost?
A one-time annual membership covers coordination, payroll and unlimited carer replacements. Daily rates then apply by staff role, from carer through to registered nurse. Rates appear below, and the assessment is free and comes first.
Do I need to fly out to organise it?
No. Assessment, matching, approval and payment all run remotely from Britain. Your parents meet the carer in person. You review the profile, approve the plan, and receive written updates after every shift.
Who is accountable if standards slip?
BetterHands is. Carers are employed and payrolled through us rather than introduced and forgotten. One team owns the placement, there is a number to ring, and the replacement guarantee has no cap.
Where the care actually happens
Island-wide coverage in Sri Lanka.
BetterHands coordinates carers from our office in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, just outside Colombo. Placements run island-wide, including Kandy, Galle, Negombo, Matara and Jaffna.
No district loading applies. A placement two hours from the capital costs the same daily rate as one in Colombo 7. Families discharged from the National Hospital of Sri Lanka or private hospitals are transitioned home directly.
BetterHands (Pvt) Ltd
200 Narahenpita - Nawala Rd, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte 11222, Sri Lanka
+94 74 21 21 744Transparent pricing
Membership first, then simple daily rates.
One annual membership covers coordination, payroll and unlimited carer replacements. After that you pay a flat daily rate for the level of care your parents need. Fees are charged in Sri Lankan rupees.
BetterHands Annual Membership
LKR 20,000
One-time annual registration fee
- Unlimited caregiver replacements at no additional cost if you are not satisfied
- Payroll management and caregiver administration
- Ongoing coordination and support from the BetterHands team
- Access to all services covered under the BetterHands membership
Step two — daily service rates
Duties below are what each role normally provides — your care plan is tailored during the free assessment.
Caregiver
Daily living support and companionship
LKR 4,500/day
- Friendly conversation and companionship
- Bathing and personal care assistance (if required)
- Medication reminders and general supervision
- Simple meals and refreshments
- Short walks and light activities (if appropriate)
- Day-to-day assistance and emotional support
Daily rates are charged in addition to the one-time annual registration fee of LKR 20,000. The same daily rates apply to day care, night care, live-in, and hospital bystander support — no shift premiums, no travel supplements for any district. A free care assessment is provided before any commitment.
A one-way transfer for the caregiver is arranged at the start of placement.
Families we look after
Trusted with the people who raised us.
“BetterHands transformed my mother's quality of life. The caregivers are professional, compassionate, and treat her with so much dignity. Our whole family is relieved and grateful.”
Chamari W.
Colombo 07
“After my father's heart surgery at Lanka Hospitals, the nursing team from BetterHands provided exceptional post-operative care at home. They were thorough, kind, and always on time.”
Roshan & Dilini P.
Nugegoda
“My grandfather was very lonely after being discharged from hospital. His BetterHands companion has become a true friend — he is happier and more engaged than he's been in years.”
Priya N.
Kandy
Questions from the UK
Frequently Asked Questions from UK Families.
Yes. BetterHands runs a free assessment with your parents in Sri Lanka, matches a carer, and sends a written welfare update after every shift. You approve the care plan and pay from the UK. Nobody needs to fly out to set the placement up.
No. NHS care is provided within the United Kingdom, and local authority social care follows the same principle. Once a parent is living in Sri Lanka, care there is a private arrangement. This applies whether or not they previously lived and paid taxes in Britain.
Not for arranging care, though it may affect their benefits. Attendance Allowance and similar payments usually stop after an extended absence abroad, and State Pension uprating depends on reciprocal agreements. Check their specific position on GOV.UK rather than assuming either way.
Sri Lanka runs about five and a half hours ahead of the UK, narrowing to four and a half during British Summer Time. Carers write the welfare update at the end of the Sri Lankan evening, which reaches you mid-afternoon rather than overnight.
BetterHands places carers island-wide. There is no district travel loading, so a placement in Kandy, Galle or Jaffna costs the same daily rate as one in Colombo. Availability for a specific area is confirmed during the free assessment.
Placement is guaranteed within 14 days of the completed assessment, and many families are matched sooner. Hospital discharges and urgent situations are escalated immediately. The assessment itself is usually arranged within days of your first call or message.
You get unlimited replacements at no additional cost under the annual membership. A poor match is harder to spot from four thousand miles away and more stressful once you do. The guarantee therefore has no cap for the life of your membership.
BetterHands nurses are registered with Sri Lanka's Private Health Services Regulatory Council. UK benefit and pension entitlements should be confirmed on GOV.UK, as individual circumstances vary.
Eleven hours away is still too far to see.
A direct flight is a comfort, but you cannot take one every fortnight. Whether your parents never left Sri Lanka or returned there after a lifetime in Britain, the daily reality is the same. Caregiver services in Sri Lanka close that gap.
A vetted carer in the house. Home nursing when the condition calls for it. A written update in English after every shift, landing in your afternoon. One team accountable, with unlimited replacements if the match is wrong.
The assessment costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Occasionally it tells families their parents need less than they feared. Either way you stop reading between the lines of a weekly phone call.
Check it yourself
Sources and further reading for UK families.
Entitlements and health guidance change. These are the official sources — go to them rather than taking our word for it.
Your parents are in Sri Lanka.
We are already there.
A 15-minute call, timed for your afternoon or evening. We will tell you honestly what your parents need — even if that turns out to be less than you expected.
1,000+
Caregiver profiles
96%
First-match success
Trained
Caregiver training
14
Days to placement