Live-in Care in Stratford

Yes, we arrange live-in care across Stratford, from the Carpenters estate and the streets off Romford Road to the towers on Stratford High Street and East Village. A trained carer moves into a spare bedroom and supports one adult, or a couple, with personal care, meals, medication and getting out, with cover arranged for days off and holidays. Nothing is agreed until Jackie, our registered manager, or a senior colleague has carried out a free assessment at home and written a care plan with you.

Which Stratford homes have room for a carer?

Stratford has two very different housing stocks, and the answer depends on which one you live in.

• New-build flats on Stratford High Street, around Westfield and in East Village. A two-bedroom flat usually works well: one floor, a lift, level thresholds, and the carer's room next door to the person they look after.
• Terraces around Maryland and the old town centre. The spare room is often the small back bedroom upstairs, while the person may be moving downstairs. That works if the carer can hear them, or with a monitor or call bell.
• Council and housing association flats, including on estates the council is regenerating. Many have one or two bedrooms, which decides the question.

In a one-bedroom flat a live-in carer is not an option, because they need a room of their own. Stratford is one of the parts of Newham our visiting carers can reach most easily from Lewisham, so visiting care in Stratford is the usual alternative, subject to availability at your times. Newham's extra care schemes are the other route, through a council assessment.

When everything depends on the lift

In a tower, the flat itself is often ideal for a hoist or a wheelchair, and the risk sits in the building. A live-in carer is already inside when the lift fails, so meals, medication and personal care carry on and only outings are affected. We still write a plan for it: the managing agent's number, how to rebook hospital transport and who in the family to tell. If you are thinking about a ceiling track hoist, ask the landlord or managing agent before anything is fixed to a ceiling.

Changeover day at Stratford

Whenever carers change over, for holidays or at the end of a placement, the incoming carer arrives with a suitcase. Stratford makes that easy: the station has the Central, Jubilee and Elizabeth lines, the DLR, the Overground Mildmay line and National Rail, Maryland is on the Elizabeth line, and Stratford International is on the DLR and Southeastern high speed.

Parking is harder. On London Stadium and Olympic Park event days, the Stratford Central, Stratford North West, Stratford South West, Stratford South East and West Ham zones run from 8am to 9pm, and the East Village zone applies seven days a week. We avoid booking a changeover on an event day where we can. If a relative is driving the carer in, you can buy a visitor parking permit on MiPermit, but you must register for Visitor Permit Access first, and permits can only be booked up to seven days ahead. The council's parking zone map shows which zone a street is in.

Time off for the carer, and days out together

Every live-in carer has a protected daily break, and Stratford gives them choice: Stratford Park on West Ham Lane, the Olympic Park's paths along the River Lea, or Stratford Library at 3 The Grove, which also opens on Sunday afternoons. If the person cannot be left, family or a sit-in carer covers it, agreed in advance.

Outside the break, the Olympic Park was designed for step-free access, with hard paths and regular seating. Its Park Mobility service hires out manual wheelchairs and mobility scooters and runs an electric buggy, from the Information Point in the Pavilion at Stratford Cross, daily from 11am to 4pm, and recommends booking ahead.

Home from hospital to a Stratford flat

Most Stratford residents are discharged from Newham University Hospital in Plaistow. A level flat with a lift is among the easiest homes in the borough to come back to, so it is realistic to plan live-in care from the first night home, provided we can staff the date. Tell the ward early, and ask what equipment the Integrated Discharge Hub is ordering, so the bed and the carer arrive together.

Funding a live-in carer

Newham Council's assessment and financial assessment, direct payments and NHS Continuing Healthcare are all set out on our Newham live-in care page. We give a written quote after the free assessment, never a figure over the phone. For how live-in care works in general, see live-in care in London.

What we can help with in Stratford

• 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