Live-in Care in Hampstead

Yes, we arrange live-in care in Hampstead village and the streets around it. After a free assessment in the home, we write a care plan and a trained carer moves in to support one person, or a couple, around the clock with a daily break. Our office is in Lewisham, but once the carer is living in the house that distance plays no part in the care.

Is a Hampstead house right for a live-in carer?

Often, yes, more so than in most of Camden. The Georgian and Victorian houses around Church Row, Well Walk and the lanes off Heath Street, and the big houses towards Fitzjohn's Avenue, often have a bedroom nobody sleeps in any more. The carer needs that room to themselves.

The catch in a tall house is where the spare room is. If the person sleeps on the first floor and the only free room is in the attic, three flights up, the carer will not hear a call at night without a monitor, and getting down quickly is harder. We look at the layout at the assessment and sometimes suggest swapping rooms, so the carer sleeps on the same floor or the one above.

Hampstead also has mansion flats and council blocks, and plenty of one-bedroom flats among them. Without a second bedroom, live-in care cannot work, and we will say so at the first visit. The alternative is visiting care in Hampstead, which depends on whether we have carers free for your times.

Stairs, stairlifts and the slope outside

Inside, the question is whether the person can still get between floors. A live-in carer walks the stairs with them and is there for the bad days, but a carer cannot carry anyone. When the stairs stop being safe, the usual choice is between a stairlift and moving the bedroom down to the ground floor. Turning staircases in older houses need a curved stairlift, a bigger job, so get advice first. Ask Camden Adult Social Care for an occupational therapy assessment; the details are on our Camden live-in care page.

Outside, it is the hill. Front doors sit up flights of steps, and the walk down to the Royal Free on Pond Street, or back up from Hampstead Heath station, is steep. Some routes are too steep to push a wheelchair safely. We plan outings around that: which way down, where to rest, and when a taxi is the sensible choice.

Changeover day in NW3

At each changeover one carer arrives with a suitcase and another leaves. Hampstead station, on the Edgware branch of the Northern line, is reached by lift, which helps with luggage. From the Overground Mildmay line, Hampstead Heath and Finchley Road & Frognal stations are both at the bottom of the hill, so a carer coming that way faces the climb.

If a family member drives over for the handover, remember that Hampstead's streets are inside controlled parking zones. The resident can buy short-stay visitor permits for their own address through a Camden parking account. Set the account up before the first changeover, not on the morning itself.

Time off: the carer's break around the village

A live-in carer has a protected break every day, and Hampstead is a good place to take one. The Heath is a few minutes away in most directions. Burgh House on New End Square holds the Hampstead Museum, with a café in the basement and seats out in the garden. Keats Community Library, a volunteer-run library next to Keats House on Keats Grove, is somewhere quiet to sit indoors.

When someone needs to be with the person during the break, a family member can step in, or the person can spend the day at Henderson Court, the Age UK Camden day centre with its entrance on Prince Arthur Road. Places there are arranged directly with Age UK Camden.

Living with dementia in a house you know

For someone with dementia, familiar rooms and the same daily walk help. Live-in care keeps one familiar person beside them through the day, instead of a series of visitors, and it means someone is in the house if they wake confused at night.

Two Camden services sit alongside a live-in carer. The Camden Memory Service, run by North London NHS Foundation Trust, takes GP referrals for diagnosis and follow-up. Age UK Camden, whose head office is at Henderson Court on Fitzjohn's Avenue, runs Dementia Wellbeing and Dementia Befriending services. Our dementia care page explains how we work with both.

Paying for live-in care in Hampstead

A Hampstead house may be worth a great deal, but when care is provided at home the council's financial assessment does not count the value of the home you live in. It looks at income and savings. The council's needs assessment is free whatever your savings. If the person's needs are mainly health needs, ask about NHS Continuing Healthcare, which can pay in full. We send a written quote after our free assessment, and the London live-in care page explains how live-in care works in general.

What we can help with in Hampstead

• 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