Live-in Care in Haringey

Yes, we provide live-in care anywhere in the London Borough of Haringey. A trained carer moves into the spare room and supports the person, or the couple, through the day and is there overnight. It starts with a free home assessment by Jackie, our registered manager, and a written care plan agreed with you before the carer arrives.

Crouch End or Northumberland Park, it makes no difference

For visiting care, distance from our Lewisham office matters: Muswell Hill and Crouch End have no station, and a carer coming from SE13 would spend longer on the bus than in the house. A live-in carer travels once at the start of a placement and again at handover, and in between lives in the home. Highgate, Bounds Green or Northumberland Park is as easy for us to cover as Seven Sisters.

That is why we usually suggest live-in care in the western half of Haringey. It also suits anyone who needs help at seven, at noon, at teatime and again at bedtime.

Is there a spare room? Haringey's two kinds of home

A live-in carer needs their own bedroom, somewhere to keep their things, and use of the kitchen and bathroom. Haringey's housing splits sharply from west to east, and that tends to decide whether live-in care fits.

• Muswell Hill, Fortis Green and Bounds Green. Edwardian and inter-war houses, terraced and semi-detached, many still lived in by the people who bought them decades ago. A third bedroom is common, and the main hurdles are front steps, steep streets and a bathroom upstairs.
• Crouch End, Hornsey and Stroud Green. Big Victorian houses, but many have been split into flats. A whole house usually has room. A one-bedroom conversion at the top of a long internal staircase usually does not.
• Tottenham, Seven Sisters and Wood Green. Victorian terraces, the Tower Gardens and Noel Park cottage estates, and large post-war estates. At Broadwater Farm, for example, the great majority of homes are one- or two-bedroom flats. In a two-bedroom flat, live-in care works only if the second room can be cleared for the carer.

Keeping a couple together in the family home

When one half of a couple who have shared an N8 or N10 house for forty years needs a lot of care, the usual routes can split them up: one into a care home, often outside the borough, the other left alone. A live-in carer can support both: full personal care for one and a lighter hand for the other, such as the shopping on Muswell Hill Broadway, a steady arm on the hill and meals cooked for two. The care plan sets out what the carer does for each of them.

When the carer is off duty

A live-in carer is entitled to a proper break every day, as well as days off and holidays. We plan how those hours are covered in the care plan, sometimes with family popping in. The council's Haynes Dementia Hub in Hornsey runs pay-as-you-go day opportunities for people with a dementia diagnosis, and in Tottenham the Grace Organisation runs a lunch club and day centre with its own minibus. For the times the person is on their own, Haringey's Connected Care service can install a personal alarm linked to a 24-hour monitoring centre. When the carer goes on holiday, we arrange a replacement in advance and introduce them first.

Staying at home or moving into a care home: the council route

If you want Haringey Council to help pay, the route is the same whether the person ends up with live-in care or a care home place. First comes a Care Act assessment of their needs. You can request one online or by calling 020 8489 1400 (option 1, then your area). Then, if they are eligible, a financial assessment.

The two routes are treated differently on money. Under the national Care Act statutory guidance, the value of the home someone lives in is ignored when they receive care in that home. For a permanent care home place it is usually counted, unless a partner or certain other relatives still live there. Ask the council how that applies to your situation. Haringey also has Extra Care schemes for people aged 55 and over, which some families look at alongside live-in care and care homes.

How much does live-in care cost in Haringey?

It depends on how much help is needed, whether the carer supports one person or two, and how the breaks are covered. We give you a written figure after the assessment, never a guess over the phone.

On who pays: Haringey's financial assessments page says people with more than £23,250 in savings and assets usually fund their own care. Below that, the council may contribute after its financial assessment. If it agrees a personal budget, you can take it as a direct payment and use it towards live-in care with us. Where someone's needs are mainly health needs, for example after a serious stroke or at the end of life, ask the GP or ward about NHS Continuing Healthcare. In Haringey that is assessed through NHS West and North London Integrated Care Board. Our paying for care guide goes through each of these.

Live-in care through illness and towards the end of life

Live-in care can carry on as needs grow. With dementia, one familiar carer often helps more than a series of faces at the door. After a stroke, or with a physical disability or long-term condition, it sits alongside our complex care. Towards the end of life we provide palliative care at home alongside the GP and the district nurses, who in Haringey are part of Whittington Health. We provide personal care; clinical nursing stays with the NHS.

What we can help with in Haringey

• 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