Home Care in Acton

Yes, we provide home care in Acton. Live-in care is the most reliable option here, because a carer moves into the home and distance from our Lewisham office stops mattering. Visiting care depends on whether we have a carer free at the times you need, so ask us and we will tell you straight. Either way it starts with a free assessment in the person's home.

Three kinds of Acton home, three kinds of care plan

W3 has more variety than almost anywhere in Ealing, and the type of home shapes the care.

The Victorian and Edwardian terraces around Acton High Street, Churchfield Road and the roads towards Acton Town are often split into flats. An upper-floor conversion can mean a long, narrow staircase with no room for a stairlift, so the assessment often turns to whether the bed and the essentials can move to one level.

The South Acton estate has been going through regeneration for years, with older blocks coming down and new homes going up. For someone in a tower block, the lift is everything. If it breaks, a person who uses a wheelchair or walking frame can be stuck, and the care plan needs to say what happens then.

The new apartment blocks around North Acton are usually step-free with level-access showers, which helps with hoisting and bathing, but a spare bedroom for a live-in carer is not a given.

Which hospital will someone in Acton come home from?

It depends where in W3 you live and how they were admitted. Acton sits at the eastern edge of the borough, so residents are treated at Hammersmith and Charing Cross hospitals (Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust) as often as at Ealing Hospital in Southall. Central Middlesex Hospital on Acton Lane in Park Royal, just over the Brent border, is close to North Acton too. Whichever ward it is, tell the discharge team early if the stairs, the lift or the bathroom will be a problem. We can assess before the discharge date, though we cannot promise a start date until we know a carer is available.

How do you get Ealing Council to assess care needs in Acton?

Acton is in the London Borough of Ealing, so the route is Ealing adult social care. First contact goes through the council's Social Care Advice and Referral Centre on 020 8825 8000, or online via the forms on the contacting adult social care page. After an assessment of needs, the council carries out a financial assessment. For care at home, Ealing does not count the value of a home you own and live in, and people with savings and assets above £23,250 pay for their own care. We give our own charges in writing after we have assessed. The wider borough picture, including direct payments, is on our Ealing home care page.

Among the W3 GP practices listed by the NHS is the Acton Health Centre at 35-61 Church Road, which the NHS lists with step-free access.

Getting a carer to W3

Acton is the easiest part of Ealing to reach from Lewisham, at roughly an hour or a little more by DLR and Elizabeth line to Acton Main Line. Acton Town has the District and Piccadilly lines; North Acton, East Acton and West Acton are on the Central line; and the Overground stops at Acton Central and South Acton. Buses along the Uxbridge Road, which becomes Acton High Street, include the 207 and the Superloop SL8.

Driving is harder. Much of Acton is controlled parking, including Zone J (Acton Town), Zone E (East Acton), Zones K and K1 (Acton Central) and Zone SA on the South Acton estate. A family member who visits to help can apply for one of Ealing's personal carers' permits, which cost £10 a year and need a GP declaration.

Live-in care in Acton

A live-in carer needs their own bedroom. That is often easy in a terraced house and harder in a one-bedroom estate or North Acton flat, so tell us the layout when you call.

A break if you are the one caring

The Ealing Carers Hub is in Acton itself, at Sycamore Lodge on Edgecote Close, and offers one-to-one advice for anyone looking after an adult who lives in the borough. Ealing also offers carers their own assessment. From us, respite can be a sitter for an afternoon or a live-in carer while you go away.

What we can help with in Acton

• Personal care, washing and dressing
• Medication prompting and support
• Meals, laundry and home help
• Companionship and getting out
• Dementia care at home
• Support after a hospital stay
• Short breaks for family carers
• Live-in care when needs grow