Live-in Care in Custom House

Yes, we arrange live-in care in Custom House, E16. After a free home assessment and a written care plan, a trained carer moves in with their own bedroom and supports the person, or a couple, day to day. The first thing we check is the room, because in a Custom House flat or maisonette that decides whether live-in care is possible at all.

One carer for a couple

When one partner in a long-settled Custom House couple starts to need help with washing, dressing or getting up, the other is often managing alone. A live-in carer can give full personal care to one and lighter support to the other: cooking, laundry, a hand on the stairs, company to appointments. The couple keep their routine and their neighbours, and the partner who was doing everything gets some rest.

If one partner is the main carer, they may also be entitled to their own carer's assessment from Newham Council. Newham Carers Community, run by Age UK East London, gives free advice on that.

Is there room for a live-in carer in a Custom House home?

Sometimes. Most homes here are post-war council flats, maisonettes and small houses, with newer flats near the station.

• A two-bedroom flat for one person usually works: the second room becomes the carer's.
• A two-bedroom flat for a couple works only if the couple share a bedroom. If a hospital bed has them sleeping apart, there is no room left.
• A maisonette has its bedrooms upstairs inside the flat. The internal stairs are usually the problem, not the room.
• A one-bedroom flat cannot take a live-in carer. Visiting care in Custom House is the alternative.

If you rent from the council or a housing association, tell your housing officer that a carer will be living in.

If the regeneration means a new home

Parts of Custom House are being rebuilt, and some residents will move into new flats. Live-in care can carry on through a move, with the care plan and equipment updated for the new address. When you discuss the new home with the council, explain that a carer may be living in. The number of bedrooms offered is the council's decision, but a step-free flat with a spare room makes live-in care far easier than a maisonette.

Handover days at Custom House station

Each changeover means one carer arriving and another leaving, often with luggage. The Elizabeth line station is one stop from Woolwich, under the river, and the DLR stops at both Custom House and Prince Regent, with step-free access. Avoid scheduling a handover for the hour an ExCeL show lets out, when the station is at its busiest.

Check the parking zone if the carer drives. The Custom House zone runs Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6.30pm, so Sundays are free. Most of the Prince Regent zone runs every day until 10pm, according to the council's list of parking zones. Residents can buy virtual Visitor parking permits on MiPermit for the day, after first registering for Visitor Permit Access.

Where the carer takes a break, and where the person can still go

A live-in carer has a daily break and a proper night's sleep, written into the care plan, with family or a sit-in carer covering if the person cannot be left. Close to home in Custom House:

• King George V Park on King George Avenue, E16 3HR, with large open fields.
• Canning Town Recreation Ground, 228 Prince Regent Lane, with gardens and lawns.
• Custom House Library on Prince Regent Lane, near Prince Regent DLR. It is closed on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
• The north quay of Royal Victoria Dock, a flat waterside walk past ExCeL.

The same flat routes make a wheelchair outing practical for the person being cared for, and the shops on Freemasons Road stay within reach.

Straight home from Newham University Hospital

Custom House residents are usually admitted to Newham University Hospital on Glen Road, Plaistow, a short bus ride north. Newham's short-term reablement and Home and Settle Service are not round-the-clock. If someone needs help through the day and evening from the first night, or once those end, live-in care fills that gap. Tell the ward early that live-in care is being considered, so the Integrated Discharge Hub can plan the equipment around a carer living in, and phone us with the likely date.

Funding

We quote in writing after the free assessment. For the council's needs assessment, means test and direct payments, see our Newham live-in care page. Where the needs are mainly health needs, NHS Continuing Healthcare may pay for the care in full. Our live-in care in London page covers the carer's role, rotas and holidays.

What we can help with in Custom House

• 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