Barnsbury Home Care for Older People

Yes, we provide home care in Barnsbury: carers who call in for personal care, medication, meals and company, and live-in carers for people who need someone there all day. Barnsbury is a fairly straightforward trip from our Lewisham office, around 40 minutes, so regular visits are often possible, depending on carer availability at the times you need. We start with a free assessment at home and agree a written care plan before any care begins.

Two Barnsburys, either side of the Cally

West of Upper Street and Liverpool Road is the Barnsbury of estate agents' photographs: Barnsbury Square, Gibson Square, the Gothic-style terraces of Lonsdale Square, and the long oval of Thornhill Square and Thornhill Crescent. These are early-Victorian streets, mostly divided into flats, with the Regent's Canal along the southern edge.

Cross the Caledonian Road, known locally as the Cally, and the housing becomes council estates, the Bemerton Estate among them, running towards York Way and the railway into King's Cross. Further north, around Market Road, the clock tower of the old cattle market still stands in Caledonian Park. Plenty of older residents on this side rent flats they have lived in for many years.

What care looks like in a Barnsbury flat

The building usually decides the plan more than the diagnosis does. Barnsbury has three common kinds of home, and each needs a different plan:

• A top-floor flat in a converted square house. Long, steep shared stairs, no lift, and a narrow bathroom. Getting out becomes the hardest part of the week, so we plan for a carer to go out with your relative at a steady pace, and keep the flat stocked when they cannot.
• An estate flat on one level. Good for a frame or wheelchair once inside. The questions are the lift, the entry system and whether a key safe can be fitted so carers can let themselves in.
• A ground-floor or garden flat. Often the easiest place to fit equipment such as a hospital bed or a commode.

For grab rails, bath equipment or a shower adaptation, ask Islington Council for an occupational therapy assessment. Its online request covers OT assessments as well as care needs.

Can I get a council assessment for my mother in Barnsbury?

Yes. A relative can ask on her behalf, with her agreement. Islington's single point of contact for adult social care is its Integrated Health and Care Front Door, which you can reach on 020 7527 2299, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, or through the council's needs assessment request. If she qualifies, she can take her support as direct payments and use them to pay a private agency such as us, or a personal assistant. Means testing and NHS Continuing Healthcare are covered on our Islington home care page.

Getting to Barnsbury

Caledonian Road & Barnsbury station is on the Overground Mildmay line, and Caledonian Road station is on the Piccadilly line. On the Cally the 17, 91 and 274 run past both stations, and the 153 and 393 use Liverpool Road. Most of Barnsbury sits in parking zones controlled on weekdays and Saturday mornings; the council lists the hours for each zone.

Local GP

Barnsbury Medical Practice is at 8 Bingfield Street, N1 0AL, on the east side of the Caledonian Road, and the NHS website listed it as accepting new patients at the time of writing. Our carers can pick up prescriptions and help with appointments.

Services in Barnsbury

• Personal care
• Dementia care
• Medication support
• Companionship
• Home help
• Sit-in service
• Hospital discharge
• Complex care
• Palliative care
• Live-in care
• Respite care
• Nail care (ask us)

Live-in care and respite

A live-in carer needs a bedroom of their own. In Barnsbury that tends to mean a two-bedroom flat, a maisonette or one of the few houses still lived in whole. Where there is no spare room, a pattern of visits through the day usually works instead. See live-in care.

For family carers, a carer's assessment from Islington Council or the Islington Carers Hub can lead to support with breaks. We can cover a regular day off or a fortnight away with respite care. Some families also look at a short stay in one of our supported living homes; the Mildmay line from Caledonian Road & Barnsbury runs direct to Richmond, the first leg of the journey to our home in Whitton.

What we can help with in Barnsbury

• 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