Live-in Care in Furzedown

Yes, we provide live-in care in Furzedown. A carer moves into the house, has a bedroom of their own, and looks after one person or a couple day to day: personal care, medication, meals, the house and company. Before anything is agreed, Jackie or one of her team visits for a free assessment, and the care plan is written around that home and that routine.

Will a Furzedown house take a live-in carer?

Usually, yes, and that sets Furzedown apart from the inner parts of Wandsworth. Most of its streets were built as family houses in the early twentieth century, and many still have two or three bedrooms upstairs. The carer needs one of them, with a bed, somewhere for clothes and a door that closes.

Some terraces have been split into flats. A two-bedroom flat is fine. In a one-bedroom flat a live-in carer is not possible, and we will say so at the assessment and talk about visiting care in Furzedown, which depends on a carer being free at your times. If a partner now sleeps in the second bedroom, we work out the sleeping arrangements with you.

One flight of stairs, and the bathroom at the top of it

In a typical Furzedown house the kitchen and living room are downstairs and the only bathroom is upstairs, so everything rests on one staircase. A live-in carer can walk with someone on the stairs morning and night. Beyond that, the usual answers are a stairlift if the stair is straight, a bed brought down to the front room, or a hoist in the bedroom (measure the doorway and the turn at the top of the stairs first). The occupational therapist decides on equipment. We plan the care around it, and we will not ask one carer to do a two-person transfer alone.

Changeover day in the F1 zone

On changeover day the incoming carer often arrives with a suitcase. From the Northern line at Tooting Bec, the walk to Furzedown crosses Tooting Bec Common. A carer travelling on Thameslink can use Tooting station, and Streatham station, on Southern and Thameslink, serves the eastern streets.

For a carer who drives, the Furzedown zone, subzone F1, is controlled for one hour on weekdays, from 11am to 12pm. A handover timed to finish before 11 or to start after 12 needs no permit, and neither does a weekend changeover. Otherwise the resident gives the carer a visitor permit for F1. It is not valid in other zones, on private roads or in the Lambeth streets just over the border.

Where the carer goes on their break

A live-in carer is entitled to a protected break each day and a proper night's sleep. In Furzedown the break can be spent close by:

• Tooting Bec Common, on Furzedown's northern side, for a walk.
• Furzedown Rec on Ramsdale Road, a small park with a bowling green, tennis courts and picnic tables, and a gate on Furzedown Drive.
• Tooting Library at 75 Mitcham Road, which has lift access, or the shops on Moyser Road.

If the person cannot be left alone, someone covers the break: a relative, a neighbour, a short sit-in visit, or a session at the Furzedown Project on Moyser Road, which offers transport to many activities for members with limited mobility.

Home from St George's with a carer already in the house

St George's in Tooting is Furzedown's hospital, so the journey home is short and the hard part is the first nights back. With live-in care, the carer is in the house when the patient arrives, with the bed made up downstairs and the medication collected.

On the ward, ask the named nurse or discharge co-ordinator for a social work referral. Wandsworth's free reablement service, KITE, may be offered first, with visits that taper off over days or weeks. Live-in care can follow it, or replace it if someone needs to be there all the time. Call us while discharge is being planned, and see our hospital discharge care page.

How do you pay for live-in care in Furzedown?

We quote in writing after the free assessment. Wandsworth Council may fund part of the cost after a needs assessment and means test, and can pay its share as a direct payment. NHS Continuing Healthcare pays in full when the main need is a health need: ask for the checklist before discharge, and read the NHS guide to Continuing Healthcare. Our live-in care in Wandsworth page explains the council route in detail, and live-in care in London explains the service.

What we can help with in Furzedown

• 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