Live-in Care in Shirley

Checking a Shirley semi for a resident carer

Jackie walks round the house with you. The first thing she looks for is a room the carer will sleep in alone. In Shirley South ward over half the homes are semis, and once the children have left, the third bedroom is usually full of suitcases, not people. Clearing it and putting in a single bed, a rail and a lamp is generally all that is needed. The little room above the front door is fine if a bed fits. Ideally it is next to your parent's room, so a call at 3am is heard.

Flats near Shirley Road and some smaller homes towards Shirley Oaks may have only one bedroom. There the answer is short visits instead, explained on our Shirley home care page.

The one bathroom at the top of the stairs

The typical Shirley staircase goes straight up from the hall, which makes a stairlift easier to fit than in older houses with a bend. Before one arrives, the carer stays at your parent's elbow every time they go up or down. If climbing becomes unsafe, the dining room can turn into a bedroom, provided there is a downstairs WC or space for a commode. An occupational therapist from Croydon adult social care decides on equipment. Home owners can ask the council's Staying Put agency about grants for bigger works such as a ground-floor shower room.

Older couples in the houses they bought new

Nearly 20% of Shirley's residents were 65 or over in 2021, against 13.6% across Croydon. Behind that figure are many husbands and wives who have lived on the same Shirley road for forty or fifty years. Our carer can split the day sensibly: helping the frailer partner in the bathroom and with medicines, getting meals on the table for both, and walking with the fitter one to the Wickham Road parade. Mention at the first call that there are two of you.

Handover day on a road with no station

Neither trains nor trams stop in Shirley. A new carer can ride the 119 or 198 up from East Croydon, or come via Elmers End on the 194. If the carer drives, Shirley makes it easy: Croydon runs no controlled parking zone here, and nearly every house has a drive. The carer who is leaving does not go until the newcomer has been through the medicines, the routines and the phone numbers.

Time off around the windmill and St John's

The carer's daily rest is fixed in the plan, with a relative or a visit covering it if your parent cannot be left. Shirley gives them somewhere to go: the bowling green at Shirley Church Recreation Ground, across the road from St John's Church; the woods and viewpoint of Addington Hills for a longer walk; or a quiet seat in Ashburton Library on Shirley Road, the nearest branch since Shirley's own library closed in 2024. A parent who still goes to St John's on a Sunday can be taken there and back as part of the carer's working day.

Back to Shirley after a hospital stay

Admissions from CR0's eastern suburbs end up at Croydon University Hospital on London Road, a single ride away on the 198. The first fortnight home, with a frame, a changed tablet list and a weak leg, is the hardest stretch. Give us the provisional discharge date as soon as the ward mentions one, so the carer has settled in before your relative arrives.

Paying for a carer to live in on the Croydon side of Shirley

Most Shirley households pay for themselves. Jackie gives the cost on paper after her visit. Where Croydon finds eligible needs, its money can reach you as a direct payment and buy our carer's time, with KCIL helping on the admin. A person whose care is chiefly clinical should be checked for NHS Continuing Healthcare. If the council tax bill says Bromley, as on some streets towards Monks Orchard, see live-in care in Bromley. Otherwise our Croydon live-in page covers the rules.

How live-in care works →