Live-in Care in Ravenscourt Park

Yes. We arrange live-in care in Ravenscourt Park for one person or a couple: a trained carer moves into a spare bedroom and supports the household day to day, with a protected daily break and time off covered by a relief carer. Jackie, our registered manager, visits first for a free assessment and writes the care plan. Because the carer lives in, the distance from our Lewisham office makes no difference to the morning routine.

Is there room for a live-in carer in a Ravenscourt Park house?

More often than in most of Hammersmith. Around the park, many of the large Victorian terraces and semis are still single houses, and a grown-up child's old bedroom is usually all a carer needs. When we visit, we look at three things:

• Which floor the spare room is on. A carer can sleep two floors up if the person's nights are settled. If they get up unsteadily in the night, we'll talk about a call bell or a room on the same landing.
• The bathroom. Sharing one is fine. A ground-floor WC makes the day easier for everyone.
• Flat conversions. A two-bedroom conversion can work. A one-bedroom flat can't take a live-in carer, so look at visiting care in Ravenscourt Park instead.

Stairlifts, hoists and tall houses

In a three- or four-storey house the risky moments come on the stairs, often early or late when nobody else is about. A live-in carer can walk beside someone and steady them, but cannot carry anyone. Victorian hallways are narrow, so a stairlift has to fit the turn at each half-landing, and a hoist needs room around the bed for the carer to work. Ask H&F Adult Social Care (0800 145 6095) for an occupational therapy assessment, and tell us what it recommends so the care plan and the carer's training match the equipment.

Changeover day: how carers arrive and leave

When one carer hands over to the next, the new one usually arrives with a suitcase. Ravenscourt Park station is on the District line and isn't step-free, so expect bags on the stairs. The council lists the 110, 190, 267, H91, 94 and 237 buses as stopping near the park.

If a carer or relative comes by car, the resident books parking through RingGo with an H&F visitor permit, at a reduced rate for Blue Badge holders. Parking is free outside each zone's controlled hours, which are shown on the zone entry signs, so a handover timed outside them avoids the charge. We agree the time with you in advance, so the two carers overlap long enough to pass on notes about medicines and appointments.

Keeping the person's own week going

Getting someone out is part of the carer's job. Here that might be coffee at the park café, a sit in the walled garden, a game of bowls, or POSK, the Polish cultural centre on King Street. The 190 bus runs from the Ravenscourt Park stop down Fulham Palace Road to Greyhound Road, where Age UK Hammersmith and Fulham has its activity centre. For a reader who can't reach a library any more, H&F's free home library service delivers books, large print and audiobooks every three weeks.

Home from Charing Cross Hospital with a carer in place

Charing Cross Hospital on Fulham Palace Road is the nearest A&E, and the same 190 bus stops outside it, which keeps follow-up clinics simple. When a ward is planning discharge to a tall house, live-in care covers what families worry about most: the first nights and the stairs. Tell the discharge team you're arranging it and call us as soon as going home is mentioned. See our hospital discharge support.

Couples who want to stay in the family house

Many of the houses around the park have been the same couple's home for decades, which is often why neither partner wants to move to a care home. One live-in carer can support both: washing, dressing and medicines for one, the King Street shopping and a turn round the park with the other. The care plan sets out what the carer does for each, and if the well partner has been the main carer until now, they get their evenings back.

How is live-in care paid for in Ravenscourt Park?

Start with the council's Care Act assessment. H&F doesn't charge for home care, and whether it funds any part of a live-in arrangement depends on that assessment; our Hammersmith and Fulham live-in care page covers the council route and direct payments. Where needs are mainly health needs, ask about NHS Continuing Healthcare. Paying privately, you get a written quote after the free assessment. Our London live-in care page covers the basics.

What we can help with in Ravenscourt Park

• 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