Home Care in Brockley

Yes, we provide home care in Brockley. SE4 is 10 to 15 minutes from our office on Lewisham High Street by bus or train, close enough for regular visits when we have a carer free at the times you need. We begin with a free assessment in the person's home, then agree a written care plan before any care starts.

Care in a converted Victorian flat

Brockley's large mid-Victorian houses, much of the northern part developed by the Tyrwhitt-Drake family and now protected by the Brockley conservation area, were split into flats after the Second World War. For an older person, that history shows up as a front door at the top of a shared stair, a kitchen at the back of the house and a bathroom squeezed into what was once a box room.

A few practical consequences we plan around:

• The shared stair. Carers manage it every day; the person may not. If they can no longer get down safely, outings need planning and a fall on the stairs is the main risk to discuss.
• Small bathrooms. A bath with no room for a bath lift often means a strip wash or a shower seat in the short term while an adaptation is considered.
• Neighbours below and above. Equipment such as a hospital bed has to come up the communal stairs, and adaptations in a leasehold flat may need the freeholder's consent as well as conservation-area rules for anything visible outside.

Crofton Park, at the southern end of SE4, has more ordinary terraced houses, where the issue is usually one steep internal staircase instead.

How much does home care cost in Brockley?

It depends on how much help is needed and how it is paid for, so we give a written quote after the assessment and do not publish prices. If Lewisham Council arranges the care, it first assesses needs, then carries out a financial assessment of income and savings to work out the person's contribution; the council explains this on its paying for care at home page. A council personal budget can be taken as a direct payment and used with an agency. Where needs are mainly health needs, NHS Continuing Healthcare may pay instead. Start with the council's online check or 020 8314 7777, and see our Lewisham page for the full route.

Trains, buses and parking

Brockley station has Overground (Windrush line) and Southern trains, Crofton Park is on Thameslink, and Honor Oak Park is just beyond. The 171 runs past Brockley and Crofton Park stations on its way to Catford, and the 172 starts from Brockley Rise. Unlike Catford, no zone on the council's published list is named after Brockley or Crofton Park, but zones change, so check the street signs. The Honor Oak zone runs Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. If the person lives inside a zone and needs daily care, a free carers' permit lets a visiting carer park for up to four hours a day.

When a live-in carer fits, and when it does not

In a one- or two-room conversion flat there is rarely a spare bedroom, and live-in care needs one. In that case several visits a day are the realistic option. Where someone still owns a whole house, as many long-standing Brockley residents do, a live-in carer can work well, including for a couple.

Respite for Brockley carers

If you are the main carer, ask for a carer's assessment through Imago, which runs Lewisham's carers' service (0300 373 5769). We can provide respite care for an afternoon a week or as cover while you are away.

What we can help with in Brockley

• 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