Live-in Care in Dagenham for Individuals and Couples

Yes, we provide live-in care anywhere in Dagenham, for one person or for a couple. A carer moves into the spare bedroom and gives day-to-day support, from washing and dressing to meals, medicines and company, and sleeps in the house at night. It starts with a free assessment at home and a written care plan.

Can one live-in carer look after both of us?

Often, yes. Take a couple in their eighties in a Dagenham semi, where one partner now needs a lot of help and the other has been doing it alone. One live-in carer can give the first partner full personal care. They can also give the second lighter help: cooking for both, the laundry, getting to the GP, an arm on the stairs.

There are limits, and we will name them at the assessment:

• If both partners need two people to move them, one carer is not safe.
• If one partner needs help repeatedly through the night, a single live-in carer cannot also work all day. That needs a different arrangement, which we would discuss with you openly.
• The carer needs one bedroom, not two, so a couple sharing a bedroom leaves the second room free.

Fitting a carer into a Dagenham house

Most of Dagenham was built as council housing in the 1920s and 1930s, and many of those houses were later bought by the people living in them. A typical one has two or three bedrooms, a small kitchen and a bathroom at the top of a steep, narrow staircase. For live-in care that usually means:

• A grown-up child's old bedroom becomes the carer's room. It needs a bed, storage and privacy, not size.
• The front room may become a bedroom. If one partner can no longer manage the stairs, a bed downstairs keeps them on the same floor as the kitchen and the garden, and the couple can still eat together.
• The upstairs bathroom gets planned for. A stairlift, a bath lift or a commode, decided with an occupational therapist where the council is involved.

Coming home from Queen's Hospital

For most Dagenham addresses, the hospital is Queen's Hospital in Romford. When one half of a couple is being discharged, the partner at home is often the person the ward expects to cope. A live-in carer can be in the house before the ambulance or taxi arrives, settle the patient and look after the partner who has been managing alone.

Tell the ward early that you are arranging live-in care, and give us the likely date as soon as you have it, so there is time to match the right carer.

Where the carer spends their daily break

A live-in carer has a break each day. In Dagenham, much of what they need is close at hand:

• The Heathway shops, for their own errands.
• Dagenham Library and Family Hub at 1 Church Elm Lane, for a quiet seat away from the house.
• Eastbrookend Country Park, on The Chase, a walk from Dagenham East station, for a walk by its lake.

The other partner may be able to keep their spouse company during the break. If hands-on help might be needed, family or a short sit-in can cover. Where one partner has dementia, Memory Lane, the dementia service run by Carers of Barking and Dagenham, is worth asking about for both of them.

Changeover days on the District line and c2c

Live-in carers change over at the end of a placement, and for a couple a smooth handover means two people are not unsettled at once. Dagenham Heathway and Dagenham East are on the District line, and Dagenham Dock, in the south near the river, is on c2c. Many streets in Dagenham have no controlled parking, so a carer arriving by car can usually park nearby. The council has been adding zones near stations and shopping parades, though, so tell us if your road is one of them.

Paying for live-in care for a couple

We give a written quote after the assessment. A couple's quote reflects the care both of them need. On funding, each partner is assessed separately. The council's Adult Intake Team carries out needs and financial assessments, and NHS Continuing Healthcare is assessed for a partner whose needs are mainly health needs. The full council route, direct payments and CHC are explained on our Barking and Dagenham live-in care page. If you only need a few hours of help a day, see home care in Dagenham. For how a placement runs, see live-in care in London.

What we can help with in Dagenham

• 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