Elderly Care at Home in London
Elderly care at home means trained carers helping an older person with washing, meals, medication, housework and company in their own home, from a few visits a week up to a carer who lives in. In London, it starts with a free home assessment with Jackie, who runs JNP Sidona, and a written care plan before any care begins.
Who this page is for
This page is mainly for sons and daughters. Mum has had a fall, or Dad has stopped eating properly since he was widowed, or the phone calls have started to repeat themselves. You are trying to work out what kind of help exists, how much is enough, and who pays. This page sets out the options as plainly as we can, including when we are not the right answer.
JNP Sidona Support Services is a small, owner-managed homecare agency based on Lewisham High Street. We are registered with the Care Quality Commission for personal care. We registered in October 2023 and the CQC has not inspected us yet, so we have no rating. You can check that on our CQC profile.
What does elderly care at home include?
Care at home for an older person is a menu, not a single product. Most care plans mix two or three of these:
- Visiting care. A carer comes at set times, for example to help someone get up and washed in the morning, for lunch, and to settle them at night. See personal care and medication support.
- Home help. Cleaning, laundry, changing beds, shopping and keeping the house safe underfoot. See home help for older people.
- Companionship and sitting. Conversation, a walk to the shops, getting to the GP, or someone in the house while the family carer goes out. See companionship care and our sit-in service.
- Live-in care. A carer moves into the spare room and is there through the day, for one person or a couple. See live-in care in London.
- Dementia care. Carers who understand memory loss, routine and distress, at any of the levels above. See dementia care at home.
- Help after hospital. Support for the first weeks home after a stay in hospital. See hospital discharge care.
- Short breaks and end of life. Respite care so a family carer can rest, and palliative care for someone who wants to die at home.
Where someone has more involved health needs, such as after a stroke or with a progressive neurological condition, we also provide complex care. We are not a nursing agency. Clinical tasks stay with the district nurse and the GP, and we work alongside them.
What carers do not do
Carers do not diagnose, change medication doses or carry out nursing procedures. What they will do is notice things: a change in appetite, a new bruise, more confusion than last week. They record it and tell you, and tell the GP or district nurse where that is needed.
How do I choose the right level of care for my parent?
The honest starting point is what goes wrong when nobody is there. A few questions help:
- Can they get up, washed and dressed safely on their own? If not, morning visits with personal care are the core of the plan.
- Are they eating and taking tablets? Lunch and teatime visits with medication prompting may be enough.
- Is the house getting on top of them? Home help once or twice a week can be enough on its own.
- Are they lonely? Isolation after a bereavement wears people down. Companionship visits are worth taking seriously, not as an extra.
- Are they unsafe when alone? If they wander, fall often, or need help through much of the day, visits with gaps between them stop working. That is when live-in care or 24-hour care at home is worth discussing.
- Are you, the family carer, running out of road? That counts. A plan that only works because you are exhausted is not a plan.
Needs also change. A care plan that starts with three visits a week may grow, or shrink again after someone recovers from an illness. We review the plan with you and adjust it. For a longer read on the family side of these decisions, see care for elderly parents in London.
Get a needs assessment even if you will pay privately. Your parent has a right to a free care needs assessment from their council, whatever their savings. It puts their needs on record, can unlock equipment and adaptations, and gives the family carer a route to their own carer's assessment. You can find your council through GOV.UK, and our guide to the care needs assessment explains what to expect.
How much does elderly care at home cost in London?
We do not give prices over the phone, because a figure quoted before anyone has met your parent is a guess. After the free assessment we give you a written figure. What drives the cost is straightforward:
- how many hours of care a week, and at what times of day
- whether visits fall at weekends or on bank holidays
- whether the need is for visiting care or a live-in carer
- whether there is support needed at night, which is a separate arrangement
- how complex the care is, for example with advanced dementia or moving and handling with two carers
For typical London figures and what to ask any agency, read how much home care costs in London and live-in care costs in London. If you are comparing private agencies, our page on private home care in London covers what to check before you sign.
Who pays for care at home for the elderly?
In England there are four main routes, and they can be combined. Our full guide is paying for care in London.
- The council. After a needs assessment, the council carries out a separate financial assessment. The NHS explains that someone with savings over £23,250 (the upper capital limit) will not usually get council help with the cost. For care in your own home, the value of the house you live in is not counted.
- Direct payments. If the council is funding care, your parent can usually take that money as a direct payment and choose the agency themselves. We can provide care paid for this way.
- NHS continuing healthcare. Where someone's needs are mainly health needs, the NHS can fund the full cost of care, including at home. It is based on need, not money. Ask the GP, district nurse or a social worker for the checklist. The NHS guide to continuing healthcare sets out how it works.
- Attendance Allowance. A weekly benefit for people over State Pension age who need help or supervision because of illness or disability, usually after needing that help for six months. It is not means-tested, so savings and income do not affect it. GOV.UK currently lists it at £76.70 or £114.60 a week. See Attendance Allowance on GOV.UK, our guide to the rates and how to apply.
One more worth knowing: if your parent is coming home from hospital and the council arranges short-term reablement, the law says it must be free for up to six weeks. Ask the ward's discharge team about it before the discharge date.
How do I arrange carers for an elderly parent?
- A phone call. Tell us what is happening, where your parent lives and what worries you most. If we cannot help, for example because carers are not available in that area for the visits you need, we say so.
- A free home assessment. Usually with Jackie. We talk to your parent, not only about them, and with you. With permission we speak to the GP, district nurse or social worker. We look at the house too: stairs, the bathroom, where equipment might go, and whether there is a spare room if live-in care is on the table.
- A written care plan and figure. Who comes, when, what they do, and what it costs, in writing.
- Introductions. We match carers to your parent, and if the match is not right we change it.
- Reviews. The plan is reviewed with you and changed as needs change.
If things have reached a crisis, say so when you call. Our page on emergency home care in London explains what we can and cannot do at short notice. We will not agree to a start date we cannot staff.
Which parts of London do you cover?
Our only office is in Lewisham, SE13. Visiting care works best within reasonable travel of south-east London, and whether we can cover a particular pattern of visits depends on carer availability, so please ask. Live-in care is different: the carer moves in, so we can arrange it across Greater London.
Local pages with council contacts and hospital discharge routes: home care in Lewisham, Greenwich, Southwark, Bromley, live-in care in Kensington and Chelsea and Barnet. The full list is on areas we serve.
Related pages
- All our home care services
- Care for elderly parents
- Choosing a home care agency
- 24-hour care at home
- Live-in care
- Dementia care
- Respite care
- Paying for care
- Carer jobs in London
Questions families ask about elderly care at home
What is the difference between home help and home care for the elderly?
Home help covers the house: cleaning, laundry, shopping and errands. Home care, or personal care, covers the person: washing, dressing, using the toilet, eating and medication. Many older people start with home help and add personal care later. Personal care is the part the CQC regulates.
Will my parent have to sell their house to pay for carers at home?
Not for care at home. In the council's financial assessment, the value of the home your parent lives in is not counted when they receive care there. Other savings and income are taken into account. See paying for care in London.
My parent says they don't need help. What can we do?
Accepting help can feel like losing independence. Starting small often works better than a big plan: a weekly visit for shopping and a cup of tea, framed as help with the house. At the assessment we talk to your parent directly about what they want. If they have capacity to decide, it is their choice. If memory is a concern, our dementia care page covers that conversation.
Will my parent have the same carer each time?
We aim for a small, consistent group of carers so your parent sees familiar faces, and we plan cover for holidays and sickness. We cannot promise one person for every visit, and any agency that does is promising something it cannot keep.
Can we arrange care while waiting for the council?
Yes. You can pay privately while the council assessment goes through. Keep records of what you pay. If the council later funds the care, a direct payment can let your parent keep the agency they already know.
Is care at home better than a care home?
For many older people, staying at home with the right support keeps routines, neighbours and independence. It is not always the answer, for example where someone needs nursing care around the clock. We will tell you honestly if we think a care home or nursing home would serve your parent better.
Talk it through with Jackie
No call centre and no obligation. Tell us what you are dealing with and we will tell you honestly whether we can help.