Live-in Care in Hayes, Bromley

Hayes in Bromley, BR2

Hayes in Hillingdon is a different place with a different council; its page is live-in care in Hayes, Hillingdon. Everything below is about the Bromley suburb around Hayes Street, Station Approach and Coney Hall.

What a Hayes semi needs for a carer living in

Hayes has more semi-detached houses than anywhere else in Bromley: six in ten homes in Hayes & Coney Hall ward in the 2021 Census. Four in five households had three bedrooms or more, and nearly half had two or more to spare. So the second or third bedroom a carer needs is nearly always there. A box room can be enough if it takes a proper single bed and somewhere to hang clothes.

The layout is the usual issue. In a typical 1930s semi, the bedrooms and the only bathroom are upstairs. A carer helps with the stairs morning and night but cannot carry anyone. If the stairs are becoming unsafe, the choices are a stairlift, a downstairs bedroom with a commode, or turning a downstairs room or the garage into a shower room; the council's needs assessment is the route to equipment and adaptations. If the person lives in one of the few one-bedroom flats near Station Approach, a carer cannot live in, and home care in Hayes is the alternative.

Changeovers at the end of the line

Hayes is the terminus of Southeastern's Hayes line, which runs through London Bridge, Lewisham and Catford Bridge. A carer arriving with a suitcase takes one train and no change, and the station is on Station Approach itself. We plan swaps so the outgoing and incoming carers meet and hand over in person: routines, medicines and anything that has changed that week. If the incoming carer drives, the drive or the street is usually fine away from the station.

Dementia in a house someone has known for decades

Someone living with dementia often copes better in the house they have known for forty years than in a new setting. A carer living in learns the routines, the names and the stories, and can keep up the walk to Station Approach for as long as it is safe. Without a diagnosis yet? The GP's referral goes to the Oxleas memory clinic at Bromley Common. The 314 and 146 run from Hayes into Bromley, where the Dementia Support Hub at Community House offers free help for the family.

Places for the carer's break

• Hayes Common, 79 hectares of heath and woodland crossed by paths and bridleways.
• The Knoll, an ornamental park with lakes, and Husseywell Park.
• Hayes Library on Hayes Street, beside St Mary the Virgin church.

If your relative cannot be left, a family member or a short visit covers the break.

From the Princess Royal back to Hayes

From Hayes, an emergency usually means Farnborough, and a slow recovery may mean a few weeks at Orpington. A carer living in suits the weeks after discharge, when someone who managed the stairs before may now need a steady arm on every step. Say early on the ward that a resident carer is the plan, and give us the likely date.

Paying for live-in care in Hayes

With so many Hayes homes owned outright, many families pay privately at first, and our figure comes in writing after we visit. For care at home, the house is not counted in Bromley Council's means test. Ask the council for a needs assessment anyway: it opens the way to equipment, and to funding later if savings fall. The borough page has the numbers.

How live-in care works →