Live-in Care in Rotherhithe and Canada Water

Yes, we provide live-in care across Rotherhithe, Surrey Quays and Canada Water. A carer moves into the home and supports one person or a couple with personal care, medication, meals, housework and company, and a replacement carer covers their time off. We start with a free assessment at home, usually with Jackie, our registered manager, and agree a written care plan before the carer arrives.

Which Rotherhithe homes suit a live-in carer?

The peninsula has three very different kinds of home, and each raises its own question.

• 1980s Docklands houses. Many have two or three bedrooms over two floors, so there is room for a carer. The staircase is the issue: it is often narrow and turns, which can rule out a stairlift. If the person moves to a bed downstairs, the carer's room is then a floor away, and we plan how they will hear a call at night.
• Post-war council estates and towers. Two-bedroom flats work well when the lift does. If the block has only one lift, ask the housing office what happens when it is out, because a carer already in the flat can manage a day indoors, but a hospital appointment cannot wait.
• New blocks at Canada Water and along the river. Lifts, level showers and wide doors usually make hoists and wheelchairs straightforward. Many flats have one bedroom, though, and that rules out living in.

Where there is no spare room, our visiting home care in Rotherhithe is the alternative, depending on carers being free at your times.

Changeover day: Overground, Jubilee line or the tunnel

Canada Water is one of the easier places in south London for a carer to arrive with a suitcase. The Jubilee line and the London Overground Windrush line meet there, and the Windrush line also stops at Rotherhithe and Surrey Quays, with a bus station outside Canada Water. A carer coming from east London can cross under the river by Overground from Wapping or Shadwell.

A carer driving from north of the river would usually use the Rotherhithe Tunnel, and the whole peninsula is inside the ULEZ. Parking depends on the address: council estates use estate visitor vouchers, CPZ streets use Southwark virtual visitor's permits, and private developments set their own rules through the managing agent, so check before changeover day.

A break by the water

For the carer's daily break, Canada Water and the green spine of the peninsula are close to most addresses:

• Canada Water Library on Surrey Quays Road, open seven days, with its ground floor and café open from 8am on weekdays and a lift to every floor.
• Russia Dock Woodland, a long, narrow park on a filled-in dock through the middle of the peninsula, with Stave Hill Ecological Park beside it, and the Thames Path along the river.

For the person, Time and Talents in Rotherhithe village runs programmes for over-55s at the Old Mortuary, including Ruby Tuesdays, a group for people with memory problems (an assessment is needed first), and the Rotherhithe Shed. The carer can walk them there and back.

Coming home to SE16 from hospital

Rotherhithe has no hospital of its own, so people come home from wherever they were taken: St Thomas' in Lambeth, King's on Denmark Hill, University Hospital Lewisham, or Guy's after planned surgery. What they come home to is the same: a quiet street, water on most sides and a walk to the nearest shop that can be too far for weeks. A live-in carer does the pharmacy run, the shopping and the night-time help without anyone having to travel in. Tell the ward early that you want live-in care, and call us with the expected date. Our hospital discharge page explains the steps.

Funding live-in care from a Rotherhithe address

Rotherhithe is in Southwark, so Southwark Adult Social Care carries out any needs assessment and means test, and a council personal budget can be taken as a direct payment for live-in care. NHS Continuing Healthcare may pay where needs are mainly health needs. Our Southwark live-in care page covers both routes, live-in care across London explains the day-to-day arrangement, and we give a written quote after the free assessment.

What we can help with in Rotherhithe

• 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