Home Care in Brent

Yes, we can provide visiting home care in Brent, but it depends on whether we have a carer who can reach your street reliably, so the first step is a phone call and a free home assessment. Our office is in Lewisham, on the far side of London, which means visits are most realistic in the south-east of the borough along the Jubilee line. For much of north and west Brent, live-in care is usually the more dependable answer.

Jubilee line Brent and the rest: where visits are realistic

From SE13, the quickest way into Brent is a train or the DLR to London Bridge or Canary Wharf and then the Jubilee line west. That puts Kilburn and Willesden Green at roughly 45 to 55 minutes door to door, with Dollis Hill and Neasden a few stops further on. Wembley Park, Kingsbury and Harlesden take an hour or more; Sudbury and Alperton longer still.

Visiting care only works if the same carers can arrive at the same times every week. In Kilburn, Queen's Park, Willesden and Dollis Hill we can often look at a visiting package, subject to who is available. In Wembley, Kingsbury, Sudbury and Alperton, regular short visits from south-east London are hard to sustain, and we will tell you that at the start. We do not have an office or a team based in Brent.

What a carer does on a visit

Visits are planned around the parts of the day that have become difficult. That might be:

• Personal care: getting up, washing or showering, dressing, continence care and getting ready for bed
• Medication support, prompting or helping with tablets and recording what was taken
• Making breakfast or a hot meal
• Home help: laundry, changing the bed, a tidy-up and keeping walkways clear
• Companionship, or a sit-in while a family carer goes out
• Dementia care, where routine and a familiar face matter more than speed

Before anything starts we visit for a free assessment, usually with Jackie, who runs the service, and you get a written care plan that sets out who comes, when and what they do.

Steep stairs in Queen's Park, box rooms in Kingsbury

In Kilburn, Queen's Park, Willesden, Harlesden and Kensal Green, many older residents live in Victorian or Edwardian terraces split into upstairs and downstairs flats. Upstairs conversions often have a narrow, steep internal staircase and a small bathroom with a bath, which is where getting in and out safely becomes the main concern and where hoists are hardest to fit.

Further north and west, in Kingsbury, Sudbury, Preston and Alperton, the streets are mostly 1920s and 1930s semis and short terraces. These usually have room for a downstairs bed or a level-access shower, and often a box room. Around Wembley Park, the newer blocks near the stadium have lifts and level access, though second bedrooms there tend to be small.

Wembley event days, CPZs and carers who drive

Much of south Brent and the streets around Wembley are inside controlled parking zones, where a visitor needs a paid session through RingGo. On Wembley Stadium event days a separate event-day zone applies around the stadium, roads close and the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines at Wembley Park fill up. If you live near the stadium, tell us at the assessment so visit times and permits are sorted in advance.

How do I get a care needs assessment from Brent Council?

Brent Council's Adult Social Care team will carry out a free care needs assessment. You can ask for one yourself, on 020 8937 4300 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm), or ask a GP or other healthcare professional to refer you. The council also runs an online self-assessment, and says it may be able to help straight away without a full assessment. The full care needs assessment can be done by phone, online or face to face at home.

If the council agrees to fund care, it then carries out a financial assessment to work out what you contribute. Where you would prefer to choose your own provider, a personal budget can be taken as a direct payment, and Brent's free Direct Payment Service helps with the account and paying an agency. We do not quote prices over the phone: you get a written figure after the assessment. Our guide to paying for care in London explains the means test and NHS Continuing Healthcare.

Northwick Park, Central Middlesex or St Mary's: planning the trip home

Which hospital a relative is in usually depends on where in Brent they live. Most of the north and west of the borough, including Wembley, Kingsbury, Sudbury and Alperton, goes to Northwick Park Hospital on Watford Road, run by London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. Central Middlesex Hospital in Park Royal, close to Harlesden and Stonebridge, has an urgent care centre and planned care but not a full A&E. People in Kilburn, Queen's Park and Kensal Green are sometimes admitted to St Mary's in Paddington instead.

Whichever ward it is, call us while discharge is still being planned, not on the day. That gives us time to tell you honestly whether we can cover visits to that address and from when. Age UK Hillingdon, Harrow and Brent also runs hospital discharge support at Northwick Park. More on how we help is on our hospital discharge page.

Help in Brent to use alongside visits

Elders Voice in Kensal Green runs day centres and a handyperson service for people over 55, Ashford Place in Cricklewood runs dementia projects, and Age UK Hillingdon, Harrow and Brent runs its Enabling Connections project for people over 50 in Harlesden. For memory concerns, a GP can refer to the NHS Brent Memory Service.

What we can help with in Brent

• 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