Home Care in Balham (SW12 and SW17)

Yes, we can arrange home care in Balham. Balham station is on the Northern line, which gives our carers a straight route from London Bridge, so visiting care is possible here when we have a carer free at the right times. Live-in care can start anywhere in SW12 or SW17. Both begin with a free assessment in your home.

Is there respite care in Balham for a family carer?

There are three main routes, and they can be combined.

• Wandsworth Carers' Centre. Its respite service can provide up to 52 hours of care at home, used within nine months, through a partner care agency after the centre's own assessment. The centre also runs the Iris Café, a monthly dementia café in Balham for carers and the people they look after. Call 020 8877 1200.
• The council. Any unpaid carer can ask Wandsworth for a carer's assessment, which can be started online. The council prefers to assess the carer and the person cared for together, but separate assessments are possible. It also runs a Carer's Emergency Card scheme with a 24-hour helpline, for the day something happens to you.
• Paying for a break yourself. We can provide respite care as extra visits or as a live-in carer for a week or two while you go away. If a short stay away from home suits better, ask about our supported living homes.

Mansion blocks, conversions and the High Road

Balham High Road has 1930s mansion blocks, including Du Cane Court near the station. These usually have lifts and long internal corridors, and flats vary a lot in size. Behind the High Road, the Victorian and Edwardian terraces around Bedford Hill and the streets towards the commons have mostly been split into flats, many of them up steep stairs. There are council estates too.

For care, what we check at the assessment is practical: whether a wheelchair fits through the communal door, whether the bathroom is on the same floor as the bedroom, and whether there is a room a live-in carer could use. A ground-floor or lift-served flat with two bedrooms can work well for live-in care. A one-bedroom conversion up two flights usually points to visits instead.

Balham Health Centre, the 155 and the 315

Balham Health Centre is at 120 Bedford Hill (SW12 9HS), and two GP practices are based at that address. A carer can help someone get to appointments there and collect prescriptions as part of medication support.

Two bus routes from Balham station cover most hospital trips:

• The 155 runs down Balham High Road past Du Cane Court and Tooting Bec station to Tooting Broadway and St George's Hospital, where it terminates.
• The 315 stops at Balham Health Centre and Balham station, then runs through Tooting Bec to Springfield University Hospital.

Balham station also has Southern trains. Parking is mostly controlled by the Wandsworth Common/Tooting Bec and Clapham South zones. A visitor permit only works in the zone it was issued for. From our Lewisham office, Balham is about 45 to 55 minutes by train to London Bridge and then the Northern line.

Which council do you ask?

Most of Balham is in Wandsworth, but the SW12 postcode crosses into Lambeth on its eastern side. The council that sends your council tax bill is the one that assesses care needs, and the government's find your local council tool works from a postcode. Wandsworth residents contact the Adult Social Care Access Team on 020 8871 7707 or refer online; the details are on our home care in Wandsworth page. Lambeth residents should see home care in Lambeth.

Help we offer in Balham

• Respite care
• Sit-in service
• Dementia care
• Companionship
• Medication support
• Live-in care
• Personal care

What we can help with in Balham

• 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