Live-in Care in Medway

Medway • Kent

Live-in carers in Medway, 24 hours a day

With live-in care, a trained carer moves into your relative's Medway home and supports them day and night, so they can stay put. Across the Medway Towns it is the usual alternative to a care home, with one carer, a familiar bedroom and a day built around one person. We have worked in care and staffing since 2016 and have been CQC-registered for personal care since 2019. Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester get the same careful approach as everywhere else.

We do not run a branch in the Medway towns. Care here is arranged by our London office at Highview House, 167 Station Road, Edgware HA8 7JU. Everyone we place in Strood, Rainham or Walderslade has completed enhanced DBS and right-to-work checks, references and training first. A consultant is on hand around the clock.

What live-in care in Medway includes

A good deal of the strain of arranging care gets measured in journeys. The drive over after work, the drive back late, the weekend that disappears into someone else's house, and the standing arithmetic of who can get there and when. Live-in care takes most of those journeys off the calendar, because the support is already in the house instead of arriving from somewhere else and leaving again.

Medway is a unitary authority in north Kent built around five historic towns, and we arrange live-in care across all of them, from Rochester and Strood by the river to Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham, and out towards Wigmore, Lordswood, Cuxton, Halling and the Hoo Peninsula. The match matters more than anything else we do. Your relative is sharing their home with the person who comes, and it should be someone they genuinely like having about the place.

• ✓ A dedicated live-in Care Professional in the home
• ✓ Round-the-clock support, including overnight reassurance
• ✓ Personal care, washing, dressing and continence support
• ✓ Medication management and prompting
• ✓ Meal planning, cooking and nutrition
• ✓ Mobility support and help avoiding falls
• ✓ Dementia, Parkinson's and complex care
• ✓ Companionship, hobbies and days out along the Medway

New to the idea? Live-in care explained sets out what it is, who it suits and how it works day to day.

Why Medway families choose live-in care over a care home

Leaving a home in Rochester, Cuxton or Wigmore after many years is a big ask, and a live-in carer can make it unnecessary. Your relative keeps their bedroom, their garden, their neighbours and the GP surgery they know. With one carer and one client, the day runs to your relative's timetable, not a staff rota. Overnight, a live-in Care Professional is there for the trips to the bathroom, the restless small hours and the early starts, without the shift changes and shared attention that come with residential care. Our live-in care vs care home comparison sets out cost and quality.

For couples the case is stronger still. Many older partners have spent fifty or sixty years together, and a move into a care home too often means being split apart. Live-in care keeps two people in the same home under a single arrangement, whether that is in a Victorian terrace near Rochester Castle or a bungalow out towards Rainham. Two people can frequently be supported for a modest uplift on the single live-in fee, which often compares well with the cost of two residential placements.

Live-in care across the Medway Towns

Medway Council is the unitary authority for Chatham, Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. We arrange care from the riverside streets of Rochester and Strood to the centres of Chatham and Gillingham, and out towards Wigmore, Lordswood and the Hoo Peninsula. A house near the Historic Dockyard and a cottage in Halling need different plans, so we shape support to the person and the home.

Leaving Medway Maritime Hospital

Medway Maritime Hospital on Windmill Road in Gillingham is run by Medway NHS Foundation Trust. Before your relative leaves, ask the ward for the discharge date, the medicines list and who will follow up. If we have the date, a carer can be matched to start that day, and we will keep the community teams informed.

Getting a Medway Council assessment

Medway Council explains how to get adult social care support, including how to ask for a social care assessment by email or phone. The assessment looks at what needs to change and whether your relative could get help with the cost. The NHS guide to a needs assessment explains what to expect, and asking costs nothing.

The council works with Carers First to support unpaid carers in Medway, with advice, practical help and signposting to carer's assessments. If you have been doing the caring, that is worth a call. Where needs are mainly health needs, NHS Continuing Healthcare may fund care instead.

A room for the carer in a Medway home

Your relative's carer needs their own bedroom. In a Victorian terrace near Rochester Castle that may be the back bedroom, while a bungalow towards Rainham can be easier for someone unsteady on their feet. If stairs are already a problem, plan for a bed downstairs before the start date.

How nights and breaks work

A live-in carer in Medway sleeps in the home and can help when something happens now and then at night. They are not awake through the night, and they need a break each day too. If your relative is often up after dark, tell us at the assessment so we can plan night support together.

Funding and the cost of live-in care in Medway

The weekly figure depends on the support needed, couples care and any dementia or nurse-led care. Read our paying for care guide and how much live-in care costs.

Healthcare staffing for Medway care providers

Medway care homes and NHS teams can also call on our REC-affiliated staffing team for NMC-registered nurses and support workers; see staffing services.

Areas of Medway we cover for live-in care

We arrange live-in care at home across the Medway Towns and surrounding villages, including:

• Chatham
• Gillingham
• Rochester
• Strood
• Rainham
• Walderslade
• Wainscott
• Cuxton
• Halling
• Wigmore
• Lordswood
• Hoo