Live-in Care in Southfields

Yes, we arrange live-in care in Southfields, on both the SW18 and SW19 sides. One of our carers moves into the home, with a bedroom of their own, and supports the person, or a couple, through the day: washing and dressing, medication, meals, the house, and getting out. It begins with a free assessment at home and a written care plan agreed with you.

Upstairs or downstairs: which Southfields homes can take a live-in carer?

The Edwardian streets off Replingham Road were built as houses and as pairs of maisonettes, and that difference matters more than the number on the door.

• A whole terraced house with three bedrooms, or two and a box room, can usually give the carer their own room. The steep hills outside are often a bigger obstacle than the stairs inside.
• A ground-floor maisonette keeps everything on one level, which helps with a wheelchair or a mobile hoist. With two bedrooms it can take a live-in carer. With one it can't.
• An upper maisonette has its own staircase from the front door, and sometimes a second flight inside. A carer can help on those stairs every time they're used, which is one of the strongest reasons for live-in care in a home like this. But equipment such as a hospital bed has to come up the same stairs, so we check the turns and widths before anything is ordered.
• Interwar and purpose-built flats round the edge of the Grid: the same rule applies. Two real bedrooms, yes. One bedroom, no.

Where there is no room for a carer, ask about visiting care in Southfields, which depends on carer availability.

Live-in care for someone with dementia

For a person with dementia, the same front door, the same kitchen and the same walk down to Replingham Road are worth a great deal. On the Grid, that walk is downhill there and uphill back, which is often where a fall or a wrong turn happens. A live-in carer keeps the routine going, at a pace the hills allow, and notices what short visits miss: an untouched meal, a restless night, a new bruise.

Wandsworth Carers' Centre runs the Sunflower dementia cafe in neighbouring Putney. The council-commissioned Gwynneth Morgan Day Centre on East Hill has a room for people with moderate to high dementia needs. A place there needs an assessment by Wandsworth Adult Social Care, and a day there can also give the live-in carer a longer break. Our dementia care page explains how we work.

Choosing a changeover time

Carers take turns, so every few weeks one carer hands over to the next in your home. A carer coming by Tube arrives on the District line at Southfields, a short walk from most of the Grid. If a carer or relative will drive, the time of day matters more than the date. Most of the Grid's subzones are controlled for just one hour in the early afternoon, so a morning or late-afternoon handover there needs no permit. The S1 subzone and Replingham Road are controlled through the working day, and there a visitor permit is needed. Check your street on the council's Southfields zones map and set the changeover time with us at the assessment.

The carer's daily break

A live-in carer is entitled to a proper break every day. In Southfields that might be an hour at Southfields Library at 300 Wimbledon Park Road, a coffee on Replingham Road, or a walk round Wimbledon Park, just over the border in Merton. If the person can't be left, a family member or a short sit-in covers that time, and it goes in the care plan. On good days the library and the park are places to go together.

Back from St George's

St George's in Tooting is the acute hospital for Southfields. When someone has had a fall or an infection that has left them weaker, coming home to a house on a hill with stairs inside can be the thing that makes the ward hesitate. A live-in carer can tip that balance, because there is someone on hand for the stairs, the night-time toilet trip and the new medication from the first evening. Call us as soon as a discharge is being talked about. We'll tell you honestly what we can staff, and we won't agree a start date we can't keep.

What will live-in care cost us in Southfields?

We can't give a figure before the assessment, because it depends on the care needed, on whether there is one person or two, and on the nights. After we visit, you get a written price. For help with the cost, Wandsworth Council assesses care needs and then finances. You can start with the Access Team on 020 8871 7707 or the online referral form. If someone's needs are mainly health needs, NHS Continuing Healthcare may pay instead. We explain both on our Wandsworth live-in care page, and our live-in care page covers what the carer does.

What we can help with in Southfields

• 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