Live-in Care in Ladbroke Grove

Yes, we arrange live-in care along Ladbroke Grove, in W11 and W10, wherever the home has a bedroom for the carer. A carer moves in, follows a care plan we write after Jackie's free home assessment, and is there through the day with a daily break and a proper night's sleep. Live-in carers travel once at the start of a placement, so the distance from our Lewisham office doesn't limit what we can do here.

When is it time to move from visits to live-in care?

Care often begins with a few visits a week. Over months, the gaps between visits can become the problem. Signs it may be time to talk about a carer living in:

• Meals left untouched or medicines found in the wrong compartments between visits.
• A fall, or a near miss, when nobody was there.
• Someone with dementia going out alone and getting lost on the way back from Portobello Road or Golborne Road.
• A husband or wife who is the main carer and is visibly exhausted. They can ask for a carer's assessment in their own right.

One limit to be clear about: a live-in carer needs an unbroken night's sleep. If someone is up and needing help several times every night, one live-in carer isn't the right arrangement, and we'll say so at the assessment. If your relative is under the older people's mental health team at the St Charles Centre on Exmoor Street, their advice helps us judge what kind of support fits. Our dementia care page explains how we approach it.

Crescent flat or estate maisonette: where does the carer sleep?

The Grove passes two kinds of housing. South of the Westway, the curved stucco crescents of the Ladbroke Estate are split into flats, some generous and two-bedroomed, many small. North of the Westway, estate blocks and narrower Victorian terraces line the road up to the canal, and family-sized council flats and maisonettes there often have a spare room once children have left. In a one-bedroom flat, live-in care isn't possible; visiting care on Ladbroke Grove is the option, subject to carer availability.

Look at the route from the street to the bed with fresh eyes. A hospital bed, a hoist or a wheelchair has to come up the front steps and the common stair or into the lift, and still leave the carer room to work.

Care towards the end of life at home

For many people the wish is to die at home, in the flat they know. A live-in carer can make that possible by being there for the personal care, comfort, meals and company that fill the day, alongside the GP and the district nurses from Central London Community Healthcare who manage symptoms and medicines. For people treated at the Royal Marsden, the hospital team and the GP plan the move home. Ask whether a fast-track NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment applies, since CHC can fund care at the end of life. Our palliative care page covers what our carers do and don't do.

How does a carer change over at Ladbroke Grove station?

Ladbroke Grove station sits beside the Westway on the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines. Its platforms are up a flight of stairs from the street, which a carer with a suitcase manages but should know about. For the southern end of the road, Notting Hill Gate and Holland Park on the Central line are closer, and buses including the 52 and 452 run along the Grove itself. Kensington and Chelsea doesn't offer visitor parking permits, so family who drive over for a handover need a pay-to-park bay.

Discharge from St Mary's to a flat on the Grove

St Mary's in Paddington is the nearest A&E. If the hospital is talking about a care home after an admission, ask whether live-in care could meet the same needs at home, and give us a call while the person is still on the ward. See hospital discharge care.

Funding

The council's needs assessment, means test and direct payments are covered on our Kensington and Chelsea live-in page. We give a written quote after the assessment. For how a placement works day to day, see live-in care in London.

What we can help with in Ladbroke Grove

• 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