Live-in Care in Hither Green

Does a Corbett Estate house have room for a live-in carer?

Usually, if the house is still a single home. Archibald Corbett's estate is long rows of two-storey terraces, and a whole house generally has two or more bedrooms upstairs; the second becomes the carer's room, with use of the kitchen and bathroom.

The harder question is the layout: bedrooms and bathroom upstairs, one straight flight. Before anyone moves in, we look at three things:

• Can the person still climb safely with someone beside them? If so, the carer simply walks the stairs with them morning and night.
• Would a stairlift help, and where would the carer pass it? On a narrow Corbett stair a fitted stairlift can leave little room for a carer to walk alongside, so we think about how both of them use the stair, and a council occupational therapist can assess for the lift itself.
• Should the bed come downstairs? If the front room becomes a bedroom, with a commode or hoist if needed, the carer still sleeps upstairs, so we plan how they will hear a call at night.

Some Hither Green homes are flats: conversions, and post-war council housing on the edges of the estate. With one bedroom there is nowhere for a carer to sleep (a living-room sofa is not acceptable), so we would suggest visiting care in Hither Green, realistic this close to SE13.

One staircase, two people

A common strain on a Corbett terrace is one partner who has stopped using the stairs and another who is still going up and down them all day to help. If one partner now sleeps in the front room, the carer supports them there while the other keeps their bedroom upstairs. One carer can give personal care to one partner and a hand with meals, shopping and the stairs to the other; if the two together are more than one person can safely manage, we will say so.

Changeover day at Hither Green station

On changeover day one carer leaves and the next arrives with a suitcase. Southeastern runs from Hither Green into London Bridge and Charing Cross and out towards Sevenoaks and Dartford, and a carer coming from Lewisham or New Cross can take the 225, which ends its route at the station. Work to make the station step-free with a new footbridge and lifts is under way, and when we checked, National Rail's station page still listed no lifts. Until they open, heavy luggage means station stairs.

For a carer who brings a car for the whole rotation, the side of the railway decides the cost. West of the line, a car parked all week in the Hither Green West or Mountsfield Park zones needs cover every weekday from 9am until 7pm, according to the council's zone timetable. On the Corbett side, Hither Green East is controlled for only two hours a weekday, so the same car needs far less.

Where the carer goes on their break

While the carer takes their daily break, a relative sits in, or we can arrange a relief visit from our SE13 office if a carer is free. Within a walk, the carer has:

• Mountsfield Park, on the Catford side, has views west to Crystal Palace, a meadow and an ornamental garden.
• Manor House Gardens, reached from Old Road, has a lake, a walled garden and a café. Manor House Library is next to it at 34 Old Road, open Monday to Saturday.
• The Corbett Community Library on Torridon Road is run by the Archibald Corbett Society. It is quiet, and also an easy outing with the person on a good day (closed Wednesdays and Fridays).

Home from Lewisham Hospital to a Corbett terrace

University Hospital Lewisham is a short drive away, so that is where most Hither Green discharges are planned. On these terraces the worry is the staircase: someone fit to leave the ward after a fall or an operation may not yet be safe on it alone. With a live-in carer in the house from the first day home, the bathroom trips and the first nights are not faced alone, and we plan with you what happens if help is needed after the carer has gone to bed. Let the ward know early, and we can see the house while the date is being set; see hospital discharge support.

How much does live-in care cost in Hither Green?

We give a written figure once we have seen the house and the needs: one person or two, and any help at night. Lewisham Council may fund it after a needs assessment and a means test on income and savings, and NHS Continuing Healthcare can pay in full when the needs are primarily health needs. The council steps, direct payments and how the house is treated are on our Lewisham live-in care page; what a carer does each day is on our main live-in care page.

What we can help with in Hither Green

• 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