Live-in Care in Blackfen

We can arrange live-in care in Blackfen, for one person or for a couple, anywhere from the Blackfen Road parade to the Penhill and Marlborough Park estates. A trained carer moves into the spare room, and we look after the practical side: getting them there, their break each day, and cover when they are on holiday. It begins with a free assessment at home and a written care plan.

Two of you, one carer

Blackfen's streets were built in the 1930s as owner-occupied family houses, and that is largely what they still are. When one partner in a long marriage starts to need a lot of help, the usual paths can pull a couple apart: a care home for one, or the other partner doing everything until they are worn out. A live-in carer is a third option. They give full support to the person who needs it and lighter help to the other, cook for both, and are in the house so that the healthier partner can sleep, go to the shops or see friends.

The care plan sets out what each of you needs and changes as your needs do. Where one of you has dementia, we match a carer who has dementia care experience.

Will our Blackfen semi take a live-in carer?

In most cases it will. A three-bedroom semi or terrace of the Blackfen pattern has two bedrooms besides the main one, and a carer needs only one of them, furnished with a bed and storage, with a door they can close. The honest question is how the house is used now: if a couple have started sleeping in separate rooms, a three-bedroom house can still work, but a two-bedroom one has no room left for the carer.

The flats above the shop parades on Blackfen Road and at The Oval are smaller again. A one-bedroom flat cannot take a live-in carer, and there the realistic choice is visiting care in Blackfen.

When one of you needs a hoist

Equipment changes the arithmetic of a 1930s house. A mobile hoist needs clear floor space on both sides of the bed and will not go upstairs, so it usually means a hospital bed downstairs, in the back room or the front room. Many couples want to stay in the same room, and sometimes that is possible with a single bed beside the hospital bed; sometimes it is not, and we will say so at the assessment. A stairlift on the straight staircase keeps the upstairs bathroom usable for the partner who can still transfer. Bexley's occupational therapists assess for equipment through the council route.

A changeover without a station

Blackfen has no railway station, so a carer arriving with a suitcase finishes the journey by bus. The 132 runs along Blackfen Road from Bexley station on the Sidcup line, and from the other direction links Eltham and North Greenwich, on the Jubilee line. The B13 comes down from Bexleyheath and runs via Blackfen Road and Burnt Oak Lane past The Oval to New Eltham station. We send each new carer the route to your door, and we try to overlap the two carers so the handover happens face to face.

Breaks along Blackfen Road

The carer's daily break should get them out of the house. Close at hand:

• Blackfen Community Library at 7-9 Blackfen Parade, community-run and part of Bexley Libraries. Membership is free and open to people who live outside the borough.
• Penhill Park, enclosed by the 1930s houses of the Penhill estate, south of the A210.
• Parish Wood Park on the Greenwich border, what is left of the black fen that gave the area its name.
• The Oval, the small public garden in front of the parade of shops.

While the carer is out, the other partner is often the natural person to sit with the one who needs care, if they are able and willing. We write that into the plan and do not assume it. Church can stay part of the week too: the Church of the Holy Redeemer in Days Lane and Our Lady of the Rosary on Burnt Oak Lane are both close by.

After a stay in Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Queen Mary's in Sidcup offers urgent treatment but no full A&E, so an admission from Blackfen usually means Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich. When one partner is in hospital, the other is often struggling at home too; a live-in carer who arrives before the discharge can settle both. Tell the ward early that you want care at home considered. See our hospital discharge page.

How much does live-in care for a couple cost in Blackfen?

It depends on what each of you needs, so we give a written figure after the free assessment and publish no price list. One carer for two people is generally more affordable than two care home places. Bexley Council assesses each person separately, and either or both may qualify for a contribution, which can be paid as a direct payment; our Bexley live-in care page covers that route. If either of you has mainly health needs, ask the GP about NHS Continuing Healthcare. See also live-in care in London.

What we can help with in Blackfen

• 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