Live-in Care in Paddington

Yes, we arrange live-in care in Paddington. A carer moves into the home, sleeps in a bedroom of their own, and gives help with personal care, medication, meals and getting about through the day. Jackie, our registered manager, carries out a free assessment first, at home or with the family while the person is still in hospital, and the written care plan comes from that.

Going home from St Mary's with someone already there

Living a few minutes' walk from St Mary's Hospital on Praed Street means a Paddington resident is likely to be admitted there, and discharged from there, after a fall, a stroke or a chest infection. The worry at discharge is the first week: new tablets, weak legs, and nights when nobody would hear a call for help. A live-in carer covers that week and the ones after it, and outpatient follow-ups at the same hospital are a short walk or wheelchair push away.

What helps us most is time. Tell the ward you are arranging live-in care and ask for the likely discharge date, the medication list and any equipment the therapists want in place. Ask too whether the patient has been checked for NHS Continuing Healthcare, because that changes who pays. Then call us, so the carer's arrival can be lined up with the date. See our hospital discharge support page.

Will a carer fit in a Paddington flat?

Paddington offers three kinds of home, and they answer this question differently.

• Council and housing association flats on estates such as Brindley and Warwick. Many have one bedroom, which rules out live-in care. A two-bedroom flat with a grown-up child's old room, or a box room that fits a single bed, works.
• Flats in the old houses around Sussex Gardens, Norfolk Square and Westbourne Terrace. The question is whether a second room has a door and space for a bed and clothes.
• New-build flats around Paddington Basin and Merchant Square. Where there is a second bedroom, level floors, wide lifts and step-free bathrooms make a hoist or a hospital bed straightforward.

If there's only one bedroom, visiting care in Paddington is the realistic option, with visits depending on which carers we have free, and we'll say plainly what we can cover.

Changeover day: by train, not by car

A live-in placement runs in stretches, and at the end of each one a fresh carer arrives and the two hand over at the home. Paddington makes that simple. The Elizabeth line runs straight to Paddington from Abbey Wood and Woolwich, and from Canary Wharf, which is a DLR ride from Lewisham. Four Underground lines stop there too.

Driving is harder. Westminster does not run a visitor permit scheme, so anyone driving in uses a pay-to-park bay, which usually has a four-hour limit, or parks on a single yellow line outside controlled hours. Council estates have their own parking rules, separate from the street bays, so ask the estate office.

Time off: the towpath, the Basin and Edgware Road

Every live-in carer needs a proper break each day, and the person they look after must be safe during it, either alone or with family or a sit-in carer there. In Paddington the carer can walk along the Grand Union Canal from the Basin, sit by the water at Merchant Square, or head south to Hyde Park.

The same places work for outings together once someone is stronger: a coffee by the canal, the cafés and grocers of Edgware Road, or a slow loop of Paddington Green. If walking is hard, the carer can push a wheelchair, and much of the Basin is step-free.

Couples in W2

A partner who has spent weeks walking to Praed Street for visiting hours comes out of it tired, and may have health problems of their own. If the person leaving St Mary's needs a lot of help, one live-in carer can take on their care and give the other partner a hand with meals, shopping and the stairs, so they can go back to being a husband or wife. We assess both of them, and if both need help through the night, we'll say that one carer is not enough.

Who pays for live-in care after a hospital stay?

There are three routes, and they can overlap. If the needs are chiefly medical, the NHS may fund care in full under NHS Continuing Healthcare; ask the ward about the checklist before discharge. If not, Westminster City Council can assess care needs and means-test what the person pays, and any personal budget can be paid to you as a direct payment. Or the person pays privately. We give a written figure after our free assessment and never quote over the phone. More on the council's part is on our Westminster live-in care page, and live-in care across London explains how placements work.

What we can help with in Paddington

• 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