Live-in Care in East Sheen

Yes, we arrange live-in care in East Sheen. A carer moves in, has their own bedroom, and supports your relative with personal care, meals, medication and getting out, while living alongside them day to day. Before anything starts, Jackie, our registered manager, carries out a free assessment at home and we write the care plan together.

What does a week of live-in care look like in East Sheen?

Live-in care works best when it keeps an ordinary week going. In East Sheen a great deal of that week can be on foot.

• Day centre days. Richmond Council's Sheen Lane Day Centre, at 74 Sheen Lane, is for people aged 60 and over with a physical disability, frailty or sensory loss. A place is arranged through Adult Social Care. On those days the carer gets your relative washed, dressed and ready, and the hours at the centre cover the carer's protected break.
• The library. East Sheen Library is also on Sheen Lane, with free Wi-Fi and self-service tablets to borrow in the library. It is a quiet place for the carer to spend their own break, or for a gentle outing together.
• The high street. The shops on the Upper Richmond Road West are close to most streets. A slow trip for the paper, the chemist or a coffee is a realistic part of a live-in carer's day.
• Richmond Park. Sheen Gate, at the top of Sheen Lane, leads into Richmond Park. For someone recovering from a fall, a walk to the gate and back can be part of the plan, agreed in advance with a safe route.

Everything in the week is written into the care plan, including who sits with your relative during the carer's daily break on days without the centre.

Semis, detached houses and flats: room for a carer

Most of East Sheen's housing behind the high street is Edwardian and interwar: semis and terraces with three bedrooms, and larger detached houses towards the park. A spare room for a carer is usually there. These houses tend to have a more manageable staircase than tall Victorian terraces, and many have a through-lounge or dining room that can take a bed downstairs if the stairs become too much.

East Sheen also has low and mid-rise blocks of flats. A two-bedroom flat can work for live-in care if the lift is reliable and the bathroom suits personal care. In a one-bedroom flat there is nowhere for the carer to sleep, so visiting care is the option to ask about: see home care in East Sheen.

If a hoist or a profiling bed is needed, it usually comes through the council's occupational therapy service or the community health team. We plan the carer's work around the equipment you have.

Mortlake, North Sheen and the level crossing

A live-in carer travels at changeover, when the arriving and departing carers overlap to hand over. East Sheen's stations are Mortlake and North Sheen, both on South Western Railway's line from Waterloo; from our Lewisham office that means changing at Waterloo. Sheen Lane crosses the railway at Mortlake station on a level crossing, and when the barriers are down, traffic queues. Anyone collecting a carer by car should allow for it.

Parking depends on the street. Check whether yours is in a controlled zone with the council's CPZ information, and if it is, buy visitor parking permits ahead of a changeover by car.

Couples in the family home

One live-in carer can support a husband and wife together, for example personal care for one and help with meals, shopping and appointments for the other, so neither has to move. If one of you has a place at the Sheen Lane Day Centre, those hours give the other partner a stretch of the day for the Upper Richmond Road West or a walk up to Sheen Gate. We assess both people, and if one partner looks after the other at the moment, Richmond Council can carry out a carer's assessment for them as well.

How much does live-in care in East Sheen cost?

We give a written figure after the free assessment, because it depends on the help needed and whether one or two people are being cared for. Richmond Council's needs assessment and means test, direct payments and NHS Continuing Healthcare are explained on live-in care in Richmond upon Thames; live-in care in London covers the service in general.

What we can help with in East Sheen

• 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