Live-in Care in Crawley

Live-in care means a trained carer moves into your relative's home and provides support around the clock — including overnight — so that the person you are worried about can remain in familiar surroundings rather than moving into a residential setting. For families in Crawley and the wider West Sussex area, this option is increasingly relevant as the town's population ages and waiting times for residential placements grow. A live-in arrangement is not a static snapshot of care; it evolves as needs change, whether that means additional help with mobility, increasing support for dementia, or more complex personal care over time. The carer becomes part of the household routine while remaining a professional whose work is regulated and inspectable. Crawley Borough Council has a duty under the Care Act 2014 ^[5] to assess your relative's eligible needs, and understanding that process early gives families more options and more time to plan properly. There are approximately 54 CQC-registered home care agencies operating in this area ^[4], which means genuine choice exists — but choice also requires comparison. CareAH is a marketplace that connects families to those CQC-registered agencies; it does not deliver care itself. The role of the platform is to make it easier to find, compare, and contact agencies that are already operating legally in and around Crawley. If your relative values their independence, their garden, their neighbours, and their own front door, live-in care is worth understanding in full before any decisions are made.

Crawley sits within the catchment of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (SASH), whose main acute site for the area is East Surrey Hospital in Redhill, with Crawley Hospital providing a range of community and outpatient services locally. When an older person is admitted to either site and is ready to leave, the discharge process is governed by NHS England's hospital discharge framework ^[8], which sets out a sequence of assessed pathways. Under Discharge to Assess (D2A) principles, the aim is to move people out of an acute bed into a more appropriate setting and then assess their longer-term needs from there, rather than delaying discharge while a full care package is agreed from a hospital bed. Pathway 1 covers discharge home with a short-term reablement or care package; Pathway 2 involves a short stay in a community or residential setting; Pathway 3 covers those who need full nursing or residential care. For many families, a live-in carer can make Pathway 1 viable when it might otherwise not be — because the level of support available at home increases substantially when someone is present overnight and not just visiting for an hour. SASH and Crawley Borough Council's adult social care teams work together on discharge planning, but the pace can feel fast from a family's perspective, and decisions sometimes have to be made quickly ^[8]. Understanding in advance that NHS Continuing Healthcare funding may be available — for those whose primary need is a health need rather than a social care need — means you are not starting that conversation from scratch at the point of crisis ^[2][3]. Early Supported Discharge arrangements also exist for specific conditions, and it is worth asking the ward team directly whether your relative qualifies.

Choosing a live-in care agency is not simply a matter of price. The following signals help distinguish agencies that are likely to deliver consistent, well-managed care from those that may not.

• CQC registration is not optional. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 ^[6], providing regulated personal care in England without being registered with the Care Quality Commission is a criminal offence ^[4]. Every agency listed on CareAH is CQC-registered. If you are approached by a provider that cannot supply a CQC registration number or whose registration cannot be verified on the CQC website, they are operating illegally and should not be considered.
• Ask for the most recent CQC inspection report. Ratings of 'Good' or 'Outstanding' across the five key questions — Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, Well-led — are meaningful indicators, but read the detail, not just the headline score ^[4].
• Ask how the agency manages carer continuity. With live-in care, continuity matters more than in any other home care model. How many different carers will your relative see in a year? What happens during handovers and holiday cover?
• Ask about carer supervision and training. Who checks on the carer's practice after placement? Is there a named care manager who visits?
• Ask how care plans are updated. Needs will change — sometimes gradually, sometimes suddenly. A good agency has a clear process for reassessing and adjusting the plan without requiring families to start from scratch.
• Ask for a written contract that sets out what is included, how notice works on both sides, and what happens if the placement breaks down.

Taking time on these questions before signing anything is not bureaucratic delay — it is the most practical thing a family can do.

Funding for live-in care in Crawley can come from several sources, and in practice many families draw on a combination of them.

Local authority funding: Crawley Borough Council has a duty under the Care Act 2014 ^[5] to carry out a needs assessment for any adult who may have eligible care needs. If your relative qualifies, a financial assessment follows. The current means-test thresholds set the upper capital limit at £23,250 and the lower limit at £14,250 ^[1]; assets above the upper limit generally mean the person funds their own care, while those below the lower limit receive full local authority support. For a Care Act 2014 needs assessment, search 'Crawley Borough Council adult social care' for current contact details and opening hours.

NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC): Where a person's primary need is a health need, full NHS funding may be available through CHC, regardless of their assets ^[2][3]. A checklist screening is the first step, followed by a full multidisciplinary assessment if appropriate. Free independent advice on the CHC process is available from Beacon ^[10].

Direct Payments: If your relative qualifies for council funding, they can request Direct Payments ^[9] — money paid directly to them (or a nominee) to arrange and pay for their own care, giving more control over which agency they use.

Self-funding: Many families in Crawley fund live-in care privately, at least initially. Independent financial advice from a specialist adviser is worth seeking before drawing on savings or property.