Live-in Care in Kensington and Chelsea

Yes, we arrange live-in care anywhere in Kensington and Chelsea. A trained carer lives in your home, in their own bedroom, and supports you through the day with personal care, meals, medication and company. Because the carer arrives once and stays, the distance from our Lewisham office makes no difference, which is why live-in care is often the most dependable way we can help in this borough.

Why the journey from SE13 stops mattering

Visiting care in the Royal Borough means carers crossing London several times a day, and that gets harder the further north or west you are. A live-in carer travels in at the start of their placement and goes home at the end of it. North Kensington, World's End and the quieter streets of Holland Park are as easy to cover this way as a flat beside Sloane Square. We still meet you first: Jackie or a senior member of the team comes out for a free assessment before anything is agreed.

Is there a spare bedroom?

This is the question that decides it. A live-in carer needs a bedroom of their own, somewhere to keep their things, and use of the kitchen and bathroom. In Kensington and Chelsea that splits the housing roughly in two.

• Usually workable: the larger mansion flats around Kensington High Street and Earl's Court, family houses and villas in Holland Park, and Chelsea's terraced houses, where a second or third bedroom is common.
• Usually not: studios and one-bedroom flats in converted stucco houses, Earl's Court bedsits, and one-bed flats on the estates in North Kensington and at World's End. Here, visiting care or a respite stay is normally more practical.

A small second bedroom is fine. A sofa bed in the living room isn't, because the carer needs a door they can close and a proper night's sleep.

Hoists, beds and bathrooms in period buildings

Getting a profiling bed or a mobile hoist up a narrow common stair, or into a lift built for two people in an Edwardian block, can be the real obstacle. Measure the lift and the turn of the stairs before ordering anything, and check whether the building's managing agent or freeholder has rules about deliveries. Compact bathrooms with a bath and no shower are common in mansion flats, so a bath lift or a strip wash may be the safer routine until an adaptation is done. Ask Adult Social Care for an occupational therapy assessment. We write the care plan around the equipment you end up with.

Couples who've shared the flat for decades

The Royal Borough has long-standing council and housing association tenants as well as elderly owner-occupiers in mansion flats, and some couples have been in the same home for most of their adult lives. When one partner needs a lot of care, the usual alternative splits them up. One carer can support both: full personal care for one, and a lighter hand for the other with shopping, meals for two and getting to appointments at Chelsea and Westminster or the Royal Brompton. We assess each person's needs separately, so the plan is clear about who gets what help.

Who covers the carer's breaks?

We do. Daily breaks are built into the care plan, usually at a quiet point in the day, and family can step in if they want to. Holidays and days off are covered by a replacement carer we arrange in advance. Where someone can't be left alone during the daily break, we'll discuss a sit-in or family cover.

How much does live-in care cost in Kensington and Chelsea?

We give a written figure after the assessment, based on whether it's for one person or a couple and how much help is needed. We don't quote over the phone. On funding, three routes are worth knowing:

• The council. Kensington and Chelsea Adult Social Care, run jointly with Westminster, carries out the needs assessment. Request it through People First or on 020 7361 3013. If the person is eligible, a financial assessment follows, and an agreed personal budget can be taken as a direct payment to pay a registered agency.
• The NHS. Where the main need is a health need, NHS Continuing Healthcare may fund the care in full. For this borough, CHC is handled by NHS West and North London Integrated Care Board. Ask the hospital team or GP for a CHC checklist.
• Paying privately. If savings or property put someone above the council's thresholds, they pay for care themselves. Our guide to paying for care in London covers the means test and what counts as capital.

Live-in care or a care home?

If the council assesses someone as needing 24-hour support, a residential or nursing placement is one of the options it will discuss, and the home with a vacancy may not be near where the person lives now. Ask whether live-in care can meet the same needs at home, especially for a couple, where one carer for two people is usually more affordable than two placements. For a single person, compare the written figures side by side, and weigh what it means to stay near their GP, their neighbours and the streets they know. If a care home is the right answer, we'll say so.

Live-in care also suits people with dementia under the CNWL memory service, people needing complex care, and those receiving palliative care at home alongside the Royal Marsden or local community nurses.

What we can help with in Kensington and Chelsea

• 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