Live-in Care in New Malden

Yes, we provide live-in care in New Malden. One of our carers lives in the home, has a room of their own and helps with personal care, cooking, medicines and company, around the family's own routines. It starts with a free assessment at home with Jackie, our registered manager, and a written care plan agreed with you.

When the family already lives in the house

In a New Malden semi, the person needing care may not live alone. A son or daughter may be upstairs, grandchildren may be at school down the road, and the family may have been doing most of the caring themselves. A live-in carer fits into that household, not over it. At the assessment we write down who does what: perhaps the family cooks the evening meal and the carer handles washing, dressing, medicines and the long weekday hours when everyone else is at work.

The practical question is the bedroom. Most New Malden houses went up between the wars as semis and short terraces, usually with three bedrooms, but in a full family house all three may be taken. Options we talk through include:

• moving the person into a downstairs front room fitted out as a bedroom, which frees their upstairs room for the carer and takes the stairs out of the day;
• using a box room, if it takes a single bed and storage with the door closed;
• for the newer flats along the High Street, checking whether there is a genuine second bedroom, because a one-bedroom flat can't take a live-in carer.

Food, worship and conversation at home

Around the High Street, Korean supermarkets, restaurants and churches are part of everyday New Malden, and on Burlington Road, in the east of the town, is the Shree Thiruthanigai Vel Murugan Temple, a Tamil Hindu temple. For a live-in carer, that shapes ordinary days: which shops to buy from, what goes into the meals they cook, which services or festivals the person keeps.

A live-in carer shares the kitchen and the table for weeks at a time, so this matters more than it does for a short visit. We ask at the assessment whether the person wants the carer to eat with them, whether there are foods that must be kept apart or prepared a certain way, and which shop on the High Street sells the ingredients. We can't promise a carer who speaks a particular language, and we tell you plainly what match we can offer.

Can the carer's break fall on Raleigh House days?

It can, and for many families that is the neatest arrangement. Staywell's Raleigh House in New Malden is a day centre for people over 65, including people living with dementia, open weekdays from 10am to 3pm. Its minibuses have a tail-lift for wheelchairs and carry a passenger assistant, and places are booked with Staywell directly at an extra charge.

While the person is at the centre, the carer takes their protected break: an hour in Beverley Park, a walk along the start of the Beverley Brook Walk from New Malden station, or time in New Malden Library. On days without the centre, someone in the family covers the break, and we agree that rota in the care plan.

Arriving and leaving at New Malden station

New Malden station is on South Western Railway with frequent trains to Waterloo via Wimbledon and links to Kingston, and the 213 and K1 buses stop there. The main entrance is on Coombe Road, and that is the safer place to meet a carer on changeover day: the southern entrance from Dukes Avenue and Station Avenue has been limited to weekday peak hours.

Most residential roads have no parking controls. The exceptions are a few streets near the station that are permit parking areas, including Beresford Road, Dunbar Road, Albert Road, George Road and Queens Road. Kingston's carer permit doesn't cover those areas, and visitor vouchers aren't available in every one, so check with the council's permits team before a driving carer arrives.

Paying for live-in care in New Malden

For most KT3 addresses the council is Kingston, and the first step is its online request for a care needs assessment, with a financial assessment afterwards. A few streets on the eastern side fall in the London Borough of Merton, so check which council collects your council tax. Where needs are mainly health needs, NHS Continuing Healthcare may fund care. Our Kingston live-in care page covers direct payments and the means test, and we give a written quote after our free assessment. For visiting care instead, see home care in New Malden, and for the service itself, live-in care in London.

What we can help with in New Malden

• 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