Live-in Care in Tolworth

Yes, we arrange live-in care in Tolworth, on both sides of the A3 in KT5 and KT6. A carer lives in the home with their own bedroom and provides personal care, meals, medicines and company day to day, for one person or for a couple. Jackie, our registered manager, first visits to assess the home free of charge, and the care plan is written with you.

When one partner has been caring for the other

Tolworth's streets are mostly interwar semis and terraces, the kind of house a couple may have shared for most of their lives. When one of them becomes frail or develops dementia, the other usually takes on the caring without anyone deciding it, until the nights, the lifting and the worry become too much.

A live-in carer takes over the hands-on work: washing, dressing, toileting, medicines, and the walk to the bathroom at night when that is occasional. The partner keeps the parts they want to keep, such as the evening meal together or the walk to church, and gets back the sleep and the time to see their own doctor.

The family carer is entitled to support in their own right. Kingston Carers' Network, which carries out carer's assessments for the council, is on Ewell Road in Tolworth, so it is close by if you want to talk through what you need before deciding on live-in care.

Semis either side of the A3, and the Broadway flats

The A3 Kingston Bypass splits Tolworth in two, but the housing on both sides is similar: semis and short terraces, usually with three bedrooms and a garden. The third bedroom becomes the carer's room. A straight staircase usually takes a stairlift, and the front room can become a bedroom if the stairs stop being safe.

The 1960s and 1970s flats around Tolworth Broadway and the new blocks on redevelopment sites need more checking. We ask whether there is a working lift, whether it is big enough for a wheelchair, and whether the flat really has a second bedroom. If there is only one bedroom, the carer has nowhere to sleep, and we would talk instead about visiting care in Tolworth.

Coming home from Tolworth Hospital or Kingston Hospital

The hospital on Red Lion Road is a mental health hospital belonging to the borough's NHS mental health trust (SWLSTG). After a mental health admission, a steady person in the house can make the first weeks easier: someone keeping to the routine, prompting medication and noticing changes. Share the discharge plan and any aftercare arrangements with us, so the care plan matches what the clinical team expects.

After a fall, an infection or an operation, discharge is normally from Kingston Hospital. Kingston Council's free reablement service may come in first. Where someone needs more help than short reablement visits can give, or no one can stay overnight, live-in care can start once we have assessed the home and matched a carer. Ring us as soon as the ward starts talking about a date. More on hospital discharge support.

How does a live-in carer get to Tolworth?

By train, usually. Tolworth station sits on the Chessington branch of South Western Railway, with two trains an hour each way to Waterloo, and its entrance is at street level on Kingston Road. Buses 265, 281, 406, 418, K1 and K2 serve the station, so a carer changing over can reach most streets without a car.

Parking is easy for a carer who drives. Most Tolworth roads have no parking controls. Toby Way is a permit parking area, and roads closer to Surbiton fall in Surbiton's controlled zones, so check yours on the council's parking zone list before changeover day.

Keeping the person's own week

A live-in carer makes it possible to keep going out. Our carers can go with someone to St George's in Hamilton Avenue or Our Lady Immaculate on Ewell Road, to a dementia-friendly group listed on Connected Kingston, or simply for a coffee on the Broadway. See our dementia care page for how we plan days for someone with memory loss.

Paying for live-in care

Help with the cost comes through Kingston Council, which assesses needs and then finances, or through the NHS if needs are mainly health needs. Both routes are explained on our live-in care in Kingston page. You get our figure in writing after the assessment visit. For more on how the service works, see live-in care in London.

What we can help with in Tolworth

• 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