Live-In Care In Burgess Hill
Full-time care for Burgess Hill households, without the move
Growing older shouldn’t mean packing a lifetime into one room of a residential home. Cheriton Homecare arranges live-in care in Burgess Hill: a carer moves into your house and helps with personal care, meals, medication, and company. The service is CQC-regulated, fully managed, and led by a founder with more than 30 years in care.
Our clients live everywhere from town-centre flats to the new streets of Brookleigh, and out into the villages beneath the South Downs. Many families first call when a parent is due home from the Princess Royal and the house no longer feels safe without help.
How a live-in carer supports daily life in Burgess Hill
Every placement starts with what the person in the house needs, and that list rarely stays fixed for long. These are the areas a carer most often covers.
Personal care
Help in the bathroom, getting dressed, and moving safely from room to room, handled patiently and on your own timetable. Nobody is glancing at the clock to reach their next address.
Companionship
Someone to share the crossword, a film, or a good chat with. On brighter days that might mean a stroll round St John’s Park, a browse through The Martlets, or tea with an old friend on Church Road.
Medication reminders
Your carer keeps tablets on schedule, logs every dose, and lets the family know if anything seems off. When the GP adjusts a prescription, the new routine is built in straight away.
Alzheimer's disease & dementia care
Staying in a house they recognise, with one consistent face beside them, takes much of the daily confusion out of memory loss. Our carers hold dementia training, and we pair them on personality and life history as well as care needs.
Palliative care
Many people hope to spend their final months at home. A live-in carer makes that workable, giving comfort day and night while community nurses and the GP lead on clinical care, with extra support added quickly if needs change.
A Sussex team, not a call centre two counties away
Our founder’s career in care began in 1997, when Richard Barnett moved in with a man newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s who was set on leaving his nursing home and going back to his own house. That arrangement still shapes how we work. Our office is in Brighton, a short drive south, and the people managing your care answer their own phones.
- Outstanding for Caring. The Care Quality Commission's verdict on the kindness and respect our carers show the people they support
- Vetting that goes past the paperwork. Enhanced DBS checks, references, an in-person interview, a full induction, and specialist training that continues after placement
- The final say on your carer is yours. You read their profile and speak with them before anyone moves in
- Hospital-to-home planning. Placements are built around discharge dates from the Princess Royal in Haywards Heath and the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton
- Joined up with local clinicians. Carers work alongside community nurses, GPs, and chiropodists, so daily care and medical care pull in the same direction
- Town and village homes are planned differently. A house in Sayers Common or Ansty needs a carer who drives and a plan for appointments. A flat near the town centre usually doesn't
- Managers who are themselves managed. Senior management monitor the case managers running each placement, digital care notes keep relatives informed, and holiday cover is arranged well ahead
Staying at home versus moving into residential care
Your home might be a bungalow in Keymer or a family house in Cuckfield. With live-in care, it stays yours.
Knowing where every light switch sits matters once eyesight or memory begins to fade.
Care home staff are shared across many residents. Your carer is there for one household only.
The cat keeps her chair, the roses still get pruned, and the radio goes on at the usual hour.
Grandchildren can call in after school without checking a timetable or signing a visitors’ book.
Same neighbours, same surgery, same chemist. The nearest free care home bed could be miles from anyone you know.
Live-in care can work out up to 30% cheaper than residential care, with couples saving the most.
Is live-in care the right fit?
With a carer living in your home, help is on hand through the day and close by at night. Planned breaks are part of how live-in care works, and they’re agreed with you in advance. It suits someone who needs support spread across the whole day, or who isn’t safe alone overnight.
Someone still largely independent may only need a carer to call in at set times, for getting up or evening medication, and then leave. That’s how visiting care works, and many Burgess Hill families start there before switching to live-in once the calls stack up to several a day.
When someone can’t be left even briefly, the step beyond both is 24-hour care, with two carers working in shifts so there’s never a gap.
Weighing up options for a parent in Burgess Hill?
A ten-minute call often settles more than an evening of searching online. Speak to someone who knows how care works across Mid Sussex, or message us whenever suits you.
From first phone call to move-in day
A fall or a discharge letter can force the issue overnight, and in those cases a carer can often be with you within 48 to 72 hours. When there’s time, we go at your pace.
- You tell us what’s happening. Ring, send a WhatsApp, email, or book a callback. The office is open 9am to 5pm every day. We listen, answer honestly, and if another type of care fits better, we’ll tell you.
- A visit to the house. Richard Barnett or Nastasha, our Field Care Supervisor, comes to see you, whether that’s in Burgess Hill itself or out in Hurstpierpoint. Nastasha turns that visit into your care plan and risk assessment, covering routines and health alongside practical points like where the carer sleeps and whether the stairs need adapting for safety.
- You choose who moves in. Daisy, our Care Coordinator, manages our carers day to day and sends you a shortlist of profiles. You speak with each one and turn down anyone who doesn’t feel right.
- Move-in week. Your carer arrives on the agreed date and settles into their daily duties while Daisy stays in close contact. Small tweaks are expected.
- Reviews that keep going. Your case manager checks in regularly, and the care plan is rewritten whenever health or routine shifts.
What staying home in Burgess Hill really costs
Weekly fees start from:
- £1,190 a week for one person
- £1,476 a week for a couple sharing a home
That single fee covers a carer living with you and one-to-one support, with no hourly extras.
Nights shape the final figure most. A sleeping night suits most people, including someone home from the Princess Royal who mainly needs reassurance. Waking nights, for advanced dementia or end-of-life care, cost more each week.
Your exact rate is confirmed after the home visit, and CHC or West Sussex County Council funding may cover some or all of it.
Ways to pay for live-in care
Who pays depends on who assesses the need, and around Burgess Hill that can mean the NHS, the county council, or both. We’ll talk you through which routes might apply before you commit to anything.
- NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). Assessed and funded by NHS Sussex when needs are mainly clinical, CHC can cover the full cost, and our team is experienced in supporting CHC-funded care packages.
- West Sussex County Council. Burgess Hill sits in Mid Sussex, but adult social care is run by the county council rather than the district council, which catches some families out. It can contribute after a needs and financial assessment.
- Direct Payments. If West Sussex agrees to fund care, it can pay the money to you, so you choose your own provider rather than accepting the one the council arranges.
- Attendance Allowance. Not means-tested, and often overlooked by households already paying privately. It won’t cover a live-in fee alone, but it eases the weekly cost.
Not sure what kind of help is needed? Start with a conversation
Calls to us rarely open with a clear request. More often it’s a daughter who noticed the fridge was empty on her last visit, or a husband who can no longer help his wife up the stairs alone.
Tell us what’s going on and you’ll get a straight answer. If a few visits a day would cover it, we’ll say so rather than sell you more than you need.
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The questions Burgess Hill families ask before saying yes
Can live-in care work in a flat or smaller new-build in Burgess Hill?
Yes, as long as there’s a spare bedroom the carer can call their own, with room for their things and somewhere to rest on breaks. A second bathroom helps but isn’t essential.
How do we get a CHC assessment started for someone in Burgess Hill?
The GP, district nurse, or hospital ward completes a short initial checklist. If it points to eligibility, the full assessment follows, and our care notes can help evidence the level of need.
Whose car does a live-in carer use for trips to Brighton or Haywards Heath?
Yours, once the carer is added to your insurance, or their own if you’d rather. Community transport and other travel options for older people cover the days a car isn’t practical.
Can a live-in carer support stroke recovery at home in Burgess Hill?
Yes. Our carers are trained in stroke recovery and Parkinson’s, and they keep up the exercises set by community therapists so progress carries on between visits.
Can live-in care cover a few weeks while family are away?
Yes. Short placements work for respite while a family carer takes a break, for recovery after an operation, or as a trial to see the benefits of live-in care before committing to more.
