Live-in Care in Medway

Medway • Kent

Round-the-clock live-in care at home in Medway

Live-in care lets your loved one stay in the Medway home they know and love, with a dedicated Care Professional living alongside them to provide support day and night. For many families across the Medway Towns it is the natural alternative to moving into a care home: one-to-one attention instead of shared staff, familiar surroundings instead of an unfamiliar room, and a routine built entirely around one person. Protocol Healthcare Services has spent more than a decade arranging exactly this kind of care, and we bring the same standards to Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester that we apply everywhere we work.

We will be straight with you about how we operate. Our offices are in the South of England, so we do not run a high-street branch in Medway. What we do run is a genuinely national service, coordinating vetted, background-checked Care Professionals wherever they are needed. Every person we place has completed enhanced DBS and right-to-work checks, references and training before they ever start, and a consultant is on hand around the clock, so families in Strood, Rainham or Walderslade get the same reassurance as those on our doorstep.

What live-in care in Medway includes

• ✓ 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

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

Leaving a long-time home in Rochester, Cuxton or Wigmore is one of the hardest decisions a family can face, and it is often not the only option. With live-in care your relative keeps their own bedroom and garden, their neighbours, their GP surgery and the community they have built over decades in the ME postcodes. Pets stay put. Familiar routines carry on. And because the support is one-to-one, it flexes around the person rather than around a 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.

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 one live-in fee, which often compares well with the cost of two residential placements.

Local knowledge across the Medway Towns

Medway is a unitary authority in north Kent built around five historic towns: Chatham, Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham, together home to more than a quarter of a million people. Care needs vary just as much across the area, from the riverside streets of Rochester and Strood to the busier centres of Chatham and Gillingham and the quieter neighbourhoods out towards Wigmore, Lordswood and the Hoo Peninsula. Whether a client lives close to the Historic Dockyard at Chatham or in a village like Halling, we tailor the support to the person and the property rather than offering one fixed package.

We also support people coming home after a hospital stay. Medway Maritime Hospital on Windmill Road in Gillingham, the main acute hospital for the area and run by Medway NHS Foundation Trust, handles a large share of local admissions, and the first few weeks back at home after a discharge are critical. A live-in Care Professional can be in place quickly to manage medication, support mobility and rehabilitation, and keep families and community teams in the loop, reducing the risk of a readmission.

Funding and the cost of live-in care in Medway

Live-in care is always priced on an individual assessment, because the right package depends on the level of support, whether it is for one person or a couple, and any specialist needs such as dementia or nurse-led care. We give you a clear, all-inclusive weekly figure before anything begins, with no hidden extras. Many Medway families self-fund, but you may also be entitled to help: Medway Council can carry out a free care needs assessment followed by a financial assessment, and where needs are primarily health-related, NHS Continuing Healthcare funding may apply. As care in England is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), you can also check how local services are rated. Our team is always happy to explain how the routes fit together, and you can read more on our paying for care guide.

More than home care: staffing for Medway providers

Alongside care for families, we are also an REC-affiliated healthcare staffing agency with national reach. Care homes, supported living services and NHS teams across Medway rely on us for dependable cover, from NMC-registered nurses and support workers to mental health and learning disability specialists. If you run a service in the Medway Towns, see our staffing services overview.

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