Live-in Care in Ham, TW10

Yes, we arrange live-in care throughout Ham. Because Ham has no station and daily visits from Lewisham are hard to staff, this is the form of care we can offer most dependably here: a carer lives in, has their own room, and is there for personal care, meals, medication and company. First comes a free assessment at home with Jackie, our registered manager, then a written care plan.

How do live-in carers get to Ham without a station?

A live-in carer makes the journey only at the start and end of their stay, so having no station matters much less than it would for daily visits. There are three practical routes:

• Via Richmond. They take the train or the District line to Richmond, then the 65 or the 371 bus south through Petersham.
• Via Kingston. They take the train to Kingston, then the 65, 371 or K5 north into Ham.
• Via Teddington. They take the train to Teddington and walk over the river at Teddington Lock (fine for the riverside streets, long with luggage).

Parking is the good news. The council's list of controlled zones has no residents' permit zone for Ham. The one Ham entry is Zone M9, the pay-and-display bays at Ham Parade, controlled Monday to Saturday from 10am to 4.30pm. So a carer driving over for a changeover can usually park on the street, though check the signs on your road and any estate rules.

Span houses, estate flats and houses on the common: is there room?

Ham's homes vary more than most of the borough's. Each type raises its own question:

• Span houses on the 1950s and 1960s estates often have two or three bedrooms, so a spare room may already be there. The questions are the stairs and an upstairs bathroom, and whether a profiling bed or hoist would fit in the living space if the person moves downstairs.
• Walk-up flats on the council and housing association estates often have no lift. A two-bedroom flat can take a live-in carer, but if the person can no longer manage the communal stairs, they may be unable to get out at all. Any stairlift or rail in a shared stairwell needs the landlord's agreement, so raise it with them early.
• The older houses around Ham Common generally have space to spare, and the planning is about bathrooms and equipment, not bedrooms.

A one-bedroom flat cannot take a live-in carer. If that is the situation, see home care in Ham, or ask us about a short respite stay.

Dementia care at home, with the Woodville Centre on the doorstep

The council's Woodville Centre on Woodville Road is a specialist day centre for people over 60 with moderate to severe dementia (see the council's day centres page; a place is arranged through Adult Social Care). Day centre and live-in care fit together well. The carer gets your relative washed, dressed and fed on centre days, is there when they come home tired, and covers the evenings and nights, when confusion often gets worse. If the care plan allows, part of the carer's daily break can fall while your relative is at the centre. More on our approach is on the dementia care page.

The carer's daily break: river, common and library

Ham has a lot of open space close to home. A carer on their break can walk on Ham Common, through Ham Gate into Richmond Park, or along the riverside meadows of Ham Lands, a local nature reserve. Ham Library on Ham Street (council page) offers somewhere warm and quiet with free Wi-Fi, and the Ham Parade shops cover small errands. With the carer, your relative can still get out to the gardens at Ham House, to one of Ham's churches, such as St Andrew's on Ham Common, or for a bus ride into Kingston or Richmond.

Home from Kingston Hospital

Kingston Hospital is the usual acute hospital for Ham, and some people go on to a rehabilitation bed at Teddington Memorial Hospital, just across the river, before coming home. Coming home is the risky part: the first nights, a new medicine routine, and stairs that suddenly feel steeper. A live-in carer can be in place from day one. Tell us while your relative is still on the ward; see hospital discharge support. Couples can be cared for together too. When one partner comes home frail and the other has been coping alone, one carer can support both.

What will live-in care in Ham cost, and who pays?

We give a written figure after the free assessment. For Richmond addresses, the council's needs assessment and means test, direct payments and NHS Continuing Healthcare are all explained on our Richmond upon Thames live-in care page, and live-in care in London describes the service in full.

What we can help with in Ham

• 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