Live-in Care in Hayes

Yes, we arrange live-in care in Hayes, across UB3 and UB4. A carer moves into the spare room and looks after the person day to day, following a written care plan agreed at a free home assessment. Hayes is the easiest part of Hillingdon for our carers to reach, because the Elizabeth line runs straight to Hayes and Harlington.

Is a flat near Hayes and Harlington station big enough for live-in care?

It can be, if it has two bedrooms. Newer blocks around the station and the Old Vinyl Factory generally have lifts and level entrances, which suits a wheelchair, a hoist or a mobile shower chair; check the corridors and doorways in your own block. The carer needs the second bedroom as their own room, with a door that closes and somewhere to keep clothes.

Two things are worth checking in a newer block before care starts. First, the lift: ask the managing agent how quickly it is usually repaired, because a broken lift can leave an older person stuck indoors. Second, entry: the carer will need their own fob or key, and the relief carer will need one handed over at each changeover.

Further north, in Hayes End and Yeading, the interwar terraces and semis usually have a box room or third bedroom. Space is rarely the problem there. The narrow stair to the only bathroom is. If you are in a one-bedroom flat, live-in care will not work as it stands, and our page on home care in Hayes covers visiting care instead.

Carer changeovers: trains, permits and handovers

A live-in placement runs in blocks, and at the end of each block one carer hands over to the next. In Hayes that handover is unusually straightforward:

• By train. A carer travelling from south-east London takes the DLR to Canary Wharf and the Elizabeth line west to Hayes and Harlington, roughly an hour from our Lewisham office. National Rail lists the station as step-free to all platforms, which helps a carer with a suitcase.
• By car. Most residential roads are free to park on. The exceptions are the Parking Management Scheme permit bays around Hayes town centre and the station, usually controlled on weekdays in the daytime; the exact hours are on the sign at the bay. In a zone, the household can book virtual sessions on a council visitor permit for the incoming carer.
• The handover itself. We plan an overlap so the outgoing carer can talk the new one through medication, the week's appointments and anything that has changed. Nobody arrives cold.

Where does the carer go on their break?

Every live-in carer has a protected break each day, and it helps if there is somewhere pleasant to go. Barra Hall Park on Freemans Lane is a 20-acre formal park with rose beds, mature trees and a bandstand, around the listed hall that was once Hayes and Harlington's town hall. Lake Farm Country Park on Dawley Road is the opposite: open meadow edged by trees and the canal, good for a proper walk.

On a wet day, Botwell Green Library on East Avenue has computers and a quiet place to sit, and Hayes End Library serves the north of the town. The same parks work for the person being cared for. Barra Hall's lawns and paths make a short, level outing with the carer, and a bench by the rose beds is often enough of a change of scene.

Home to Hayes from Hillingdon Hospital

Hayes residents are normally discharged from Hillingdon Hospital on Pield Heath Road, which is being rebuilt on its own site, so wards may have moved by the time you visit. A live-in carer suits a discharge to Hayes because the first nights are covered. The carer sees how the person copes with the stairs, meals and new medication from the first day. Ring us once the ward talks about a date. Our hospital discharge page sets out what we need from the ward.

Two people, one household

Where one partner in a Hayes household has become the other's carer, one live-in carer can support both of them: personal care for one, meals and company for the other, and someone else in the house overnight so the healthier partner is no longer on call alone. If either partner needs two people for every transfer, we will tell you at the assessment.

How much does live-in care cost in Hayes?

We give a written quote after the free assessment, and it depends on the care needed, one person or two, and the nights. If Hillingdon Council or the NHS might contribute, our live-in care in Hillingdon page explains the council route, and the NHS Continuing Healthcare guide explains when health needs are funded in full. For how the service works in general, see live-in care in London.

What we can help with in Hayes

• 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