Live-in Care in Thamesmead

We can provide live-in care on the Greenwich side of Thamesmead, in the deck-access blocks, the later brick houses and the new Peabody flats alike. One trained carer moves into the home and supports a person, or a couple, day to day; we plan the carer's journey in from Abbey Wood at changeover, their daily break and cover for their holidays. The first step is a free assessment in the home with Jackie, our registered manager, followed by a written care plan.

Is live-in care the more reliable option in Thamesmead?

For anyone who needs help several times a day, often it is. Thamesmead is the part of Greenwich furthest from our Lewisham office, with no station of its own, and a pattern of early, midday, teatime and bedtime visits is the hardest kind of care to staff out here. A live-in carer does the journey once, at the start of their placement, and is then in the home for every one of those moments. If only one or two short visits a day are needed, our home care in Thamesmead page covers that.

Leaving Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a Thamesmead home

Most Greenwich-side residents are admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich. Discharge is the moment live-in care tends to suit Thamesmead best, for three reasons:

• The first nights. Someone newly home after a fall, an infection or surgery is often unsettled at night. A carer sleeping in the next room is there to help with the toilet or a drink.
• Getting out again. In the older blocks, the front door may be a walkway level above the street. A carer can help the person down to street level for follow-up appointments, and up again.
• One person who knows them. A single carer sees how recovery is going day by day and can tell you, the GP or the community team when something changes.

Tell the ward as soon as a discharge date is mentioned that you are arranging live-in care, and call us so we can assess. Our hospital discharge page explains the process. If the person is near the end of life, live-in care can sit alongside support from Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice.

The carer's room, floor by floor

Thamesmead's homes were built in phases, so the questions differ by street:

• Deck-access flats. A flat with a second bedroom is enough. Before a carer starts, check how often the lift fails and whether a wheelchair or a mobile hoist fits inside it. If the lift is the only step-free route, report every breakdown to the landlord.
• The later low-rise brick houses often have two or three bedrooms upstairs. The carer's room is easy; the stairs to the bathroom are the thing to plan around.
• Regeneration flats. New homes from the current rebuilding generally have lifts and level floors, but many are one-bedroom. A one-bedroom flat cannot take a live-in carer.

Peabody owns most of the estate, and many homes here are rented from it. Read the tenancy agreement for anything on long-term guests, and let your housing officer know a carer will be staying.

How carers get in and out of Thamesmead

At changeover, an incoming carer usually takes the Elizabeth line to Abbey Wood and finishes by bus, or the train to Plumstead or Woolwich Arsenal and a bus from there. Carrying a suitcase across the town's walkways takes longer than the map suggests, so we plan arrival times with that in mind and send the route to the door in advance.

Royal Greenwich's list of controlled parking zones has no Thamesmead zone, so a carer who drives can often park on the street. Estate car parks and private roads may have their own rules, so ask the landlord before a carer leaves a car there for weeks at a time.

Lakes and the river for the carer's break

Every live-in carer has a daily break away from the home. Thamesmead's planners left plenty of open water and green space:

• Birchmere Park, on the Greenwich side, with its lake and the Green Chain Walk running past the eastern shore.
• The Thames Path along the riverfront, largely flat, and worth trying as an outing with the person on another day.
• Thamesmere Library, inside the Thamesmere Leisure Centre on Thamesmere Drive.

We agree at the assessment who stays with the person while the carer is out. For a family member who has been coping alone until now, Greenwich Carers Centre in Charlton can advise on their own support.

Paying for live-in care

Royal Greenwich assesses needs, then finances, and can pay its share as a direct payment you spend with us; the council route and what it counts are on our Greenwich live-in care page. If health needs are the main issue, ask the ward or GP about NHS Continuing Healthcare, which can fund care in full. Otherwise we give a written quote after the free assessment. Our London live-in care page covers how placements work.

What we can help with in Thamesmead

• 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