Home Care in Belsize Park

We can arrange home care in Belsize Park, NW3. Visiting care for washing, dressing, medication and meals depends on having carers free to travel from south-east London at the times you need, so we check that before agreeing anything. Live-in care, where a carer moves in, can be arranged here whatever the distance. A free assessment in your home comes first.

Coming home from the Royal Free

Belsize Park sits right beside the Royal Free Hospital, which faces Pond Street at the top of Haverstock Hill. For most people here, an admission, a fall or an operation means the Royal Free, and the discharge that follows is often the moment a family first looks for care.

The hospital and Camden's community health and social care teams decide what support is needed when someone leaves the ward. If council-arranged care is part of the plan, they set it up. If you are arranging care privately, or topping up what the council provides, ring us while the discharge is still being planned. A care package set up on the day of discharge is the one most likely to go wrong. Our hospital discharge support covers the first days at home: getting into bed safely, medication from the hospital pharmacy, a stocked fridge and someone checking in.

Where needs are mainly health needs, ask the ward about an NHS Continuing Healthcare check before discharge. The NHS guide to Continuing Healthcare explains who qualifies.

Villas cut into flats

The streets around Belsize Park Gardens, Belsize Square, Belsize Avenue and Primrose Gardens are lined with large white stucco Victorian villas. Almost all of them have been split into flats. An older resident is as likely to be on the second or third floor as at street level, with a shared staircase and no lift. Bathrooms tend to be small, often with a bath, which is usually where personal care gets difficult first.

That shapes the care. A carer may help someone up and down the communal stairs to get to the shops on England's Lane or the cafes in Belsize Village, and bathing help often means a strip wash or a bath board until a shower adaptation is done. The mansion blocks nearer Haverstock Hill more often have lifts, but the lifts are small, which matters if a wheelchair or a hoist is needed.

Who pays for home care in Belsize Park?

It depends on two things: what the person needs and what they can afford. Camden Council will assess needs if you ask. You can refer yourself or a relative on the Camden adult social care referral form or by phoning Contact Camden on 020 7974 4444. If needs are eligible, a financial assessment follows. Some people get council-funded care, some pay part and some pay in full. The gov.uk needs assessment page sets out your rights. We give a written quote after our own assessment, never a figure over the phone. Our guide to paying for care in London goes further, and our Camden home care page covers the rest of the borough.

Live-in care and respite in a smaller home

Live-in care needs a spare bedroom for the carer. Fewer Belsize Park flats have one than the houses further up the hill in Hampstead, so it is worth checking that first. If there is no spare room, a package of visits can usually cover the day.

Family carers can also book respite care, from a few hours' sit-in cover to a week or more of live-in support while they rest or travel.

Reaching Belsize Park

Belsize Park station, on the Edgware branch of the Northern line, is on Haverstock Hill. Hampstead Heath station on the Overground is a short walk away, past the hospital. The C11 stops outside the station and runs on along England's Lane, and the 268 runs through Belsize Village. Parking is controlled, so our carers travel by public transport. From Lewisham it takes roughly 45 minutes to an hour.

What we can help with in Belsize Park

• 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