Live-in Care in St Margarets

Yes, we arrange live-in care in St Margarets. One of our carers moves into the house with a bedroom of their own, helps with washing, dressing, meals and medication, and is in the house in the evenings and at night, not just at set visit times. Jackie, our registered manager, visits first for a free assessment, and we agree a written care plan before the carer starts.

Can a couple in St Margarets share one live-in carer?

Often, yes. St Margarets houses, the large ones on the old St Margarets estate above all, were built for families, so there is usually a room for the carer as well as the couple's own. When one partner starts needing personal care, the usual alternatives split the couple up: a care home place for one, the other left alone in a big house.

A single live-in carer can look after the partner who needs personal care and help the other with the cooking, the shopping, appointments and the stairs. Both people are part of the assessment and the plan. If either of you needs two people for every transfer, or help many times a night, one carer cannot do that safely, and we will say so and suggest what would work.

Where the healthier partner is the main carer at present, Richmond Council will do a carer's assessment alongside the needs assessment if you both agree.

Where does the carer sleep in a St Margarets house?

St Margarets is mostly tall Victorian and Edwardian family houses, terraces and semis, so a room for the carer is rarely the problem. What we look at instead:

• Which floor everyone sleeps on. The carer's room should be close enough to hear the person at night.
• The staircase. Steep, turning Victorian stairs may not take a straight stairlift, and a curved one is a bigger job. A council occupational therapist can advise, and in the meantime a bedroom on the ground floor may be the safer arrangement.
• The bathroom. The carer shares it. If it is a small first-floor room with a bath, we plan personal care around that, and may suggest asking about a level-access shower.
• Converted flats. A two-bedroom conversion can take a carer. A one-bedroom flat cannot; the choices there are visiting care when we have someone free (see home care in St Margarets), a move, or care in a relative's home.

Changeover days, match days and permits

When one live-in carer hands over to the next, both are in the house for long enough to go through the care plan together. Carers usually come by train: St Margarets station is on South Western Railway, between Richmond and Twickenham, with trains from Waterloo. A carer travelling from south-east London changes at Waterloo, so travelling only at changeover is what makes live-in care practical here.

If the incoming carer or a relative drives, plan the parking. St Margarets is in a controlled parking zone, and you can buy visitor parking permits from Richmond Council as books of scratch cards or pay as you go, online or by phone. Roads such as Ailsa Road and Kilmorey Gardens are also on the map of the Twickenham Event (R) Zone, where on stadium event days residents can use free event visitor permits, limited to two per household. Check the event calendar before you fix a changeover date. A big match day is a poor day for a carer to arrive with a suitcase.

Home from West Middlesex, or via Teddington

For most St Margarets addresses the nearest A&E is West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth, just over the River Crane. Some patients go home directly, others first to the rehabilitation wards at Teddington Memorial Hospital. Either way, live-in care fits a discharge into a tall house well: the first nights home, when the walk to the toilet is most risky, are the nights a carer is sleeping on the same landing. Call us while the ward is still planning, so the assessment, any equipment and the carer's start can be in place for the date. Our hospital discharge support page sets out the steps.

Paying for live-in care in St Margarets

We give you a written figure after the free assessment, and for a couple the figure covers both. Richmond Council's needs assessment and means test, direct payments and NHS Continuing Healthcare are all explained on our live-in care in Richmond upon Thames page. If one partner's needs are mainly health needs, ask the ward or GP about a Continuing Healthcare checklist. Live-in care in London explains the service itself.

What we can help with in St Margarets

• 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