Live-in Care in Belsize Park

We can arrange live-in care in Belsize Park, NW3. A carer moves into the spare room and supports the person day and night, with a daily break, following a care plan we write after a free assessment at home. Live-in care does not depend on the journey from our Lewisham office, so it is the most reliable way we can cover this part of Camden.

Can a live-in carer be ready when Mum leaves the Royal Free?

Often, yes, if we hear about it early. The Royal Free on Pond Street is a short walk from most Belsize Park streets, which makes it the usual hospital for people coming home to NW3 after an admission. The ward team, working with Camden's social care and community health services, decides when someone is medically ready to leave and what support they need.

Ring us as soon as the ward first mentions going home, not when a date is fixed. That gives us time for the assessment and to find a carer who suits them. We cannot promise to match a discharge date we hear about the day before, and we will tell you straight away if we can't.

Before a date is set, ask the ward whether anyone has screened the person for NHS Continuing Healthcare. If they qualify, the NHS can fund the whole package, live-in care included; the NHS guide to Continuing Healthcare sets out the checklist and the full assessment.

The first fortnight at home

The first fortnight after discharge is when a live-in carer earns their place. In a Belsize Park flat that means:

• Someone a door away at night. In a two-bedroom villa conversion the carer sleeps in the next room, so the first nights back after an operation or a fall are not spent alone.
• Medicines that make sense. Hospital discharge often comes with new tablets and changed doses. The carer supports medication as the care plan sets out and notices if something seems wrong.
• Getting back up the hill. Follow-up clinics at the Royal Free are close, but Haverstock Hill is steep. A carer can go with the person, on foot or by taxi.

Live-in care can run for a few weeks and then step down to visits, or carry on for good if that is what keeps the person at home. Our hospital discharge support page sets out how we work.

Finding the carer's room in a converted villa

Belsize Park's stucco villas were built as family houses and almost all are now flats. A one-bedroom conversion leaves no space for a carer, however well laid out it is. A two-bedroom flat usually can, once the second room has a proper bed and space for the carer's things.

Upper-floor flats with no lift are common, and that matters most straight after discharge. If the person can no longer get up the communal stairs, coming home may not be possible until something changes, and the hospital will want to know that before it agrees a date. The mansion blocks nearer Haverstock Hill more often have lifts, though small ones. If live-in care can't work in the flat, our visiting care in Belsize Park may, depending on carer availability.

Arrivals and handovers on Haverstock Hill

Belsize Park station, on the Edgware branch of the Northern line, is right on Haverstock Hill, and has lifts down to the platforms, though there are still some steps between the lifts and the trains. Hampstead Heath station on the Overground is the other choice, just past the hospital. A carer arriving for a changeover has a short walk from either.

Relatives who drive over to meet a new carer will find the streets around Belsize Village and England's Lane controlled. The resident can buy short-stay visitor permits through a Camden parking account; set it up before the first handover.

Where the carer goes for a break

The carer's daily break needs somewhere to go, and Belsize Park has plenty close by. Belsize Village has cafés a few minutes from most flats, and Primrose Hill is within walking distance to the south. Belsize Community Library on Antrim Road, which the local charity The Winch rescued from closure in 2012, is a quiet place to sit indoors. On days the person needs someone with them during the break, family can cover it, or we can plan it into the care.

Council funding and the borough route

If care after discharge is funded by Camden, the council sets it up through its own assessment, and a direct payment can let you choose a provider such as us. The referral route, the means test and direct-payment support are covered on our Camden live-in care page. If you are paying privately, we give you a written quote after the free assessment. The London live-in care page covers the basics.

What we can help with in Belsize Park

• A carer living in, with their own room
• Care for one person or a couple
• Personal care through the day
• Medication support
• Cooking, housekeeping and laundry
• Dementia support at home
• Company, outings and appointments
• Cover arranged for the carer's breaks