Home Care in Chelsea, SW3 and SW10

Yes, we provide home care in Chelsea, from a morning visit to a live-in carer. It starts with a free home assessment by our registered manager, Jackie, and a written care plan. We're based in Lewisham, not Chelsea: Sloane Square is a straight run from Victoria, so visits to the eastern end are often workable, but they depend on which carers are free, and live-in care is the steadier option further west towards World's End.

From Sloane Square to the river

Chelsea covers SW3 and much of SW10. It runs from Sloane Square along the King's Road, past the old town hall, to World's End, and south to the Thames at Cheyne Walk. The Royal Hospital, home of the Chelsea Pensioners, fills the south-eastern corner.

Older residents include long-time owners in streets such as Flood Street, Oakley Street and Old Church Street, and long-standing council and housing association tenants, including on the World's End Estate. Many live alone.

What Chelsea houses mean for care

Chelsea's Georgian and Victorian terraces usually have front steps, a raised ground floor and a basement with its own area steps. Many are now flats, so someone might be three floors up with no lift, or below the pavement with a cramped bathroom. At the assessment we look at:

• how many steps there are between the street and the bed, and whether a rail or a second banister would help;
• whether the bathroom has room for a carer to help with a shower;
• where a commode or a profiling bed would go if one is needed;
• how a carer gets in, usually with a key safe.

On the World's End Estate, the tower lifts and walkways matter more.

Getting a carer to a Chelsea address

Sloane Square (District and Circle lines) sits at Chelsea's eastern edge, and South Kensington serves the Brompton end, but most of Chelsea is a long walk from either. Buses do the work. The 11, 19, 22, 211 and 319 run along the King's Road. The 49 and 211 use Sydney Street, the 19, 49, 319 and 345 cross Battersea Bridge by Cheyne Walk, and the 170 follows Royal Hospital Road. From south-east London, our carers come through Victoria to Sloane Square. The western end of the King's Road takes another 15 to 20 minutes.

A car doesn't solve the walk from the Tube: the residents' bays in Chelsea's side streets are for permit holders only, so we plan Chelsea visits around the King's Road and Fulham Road buses.

How do I get council-funded home care in Chelsea?

Chelsea is part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, so it's the borough's Adult Social Care team that assesses needs. You can request a needs assessment through People First, the council's adult social care information site, or ring the Social Services Line on 020 7361 3013 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). Council care is means-tested, and council funding can be taken as a direct payment to pay an agency you choose.

We confirm our fees in writing after the free assessment. Our Kensington and Chelsea home care page covers the rest of the council route, and paying for care explains funding in general.

Coming home from the Fulham Road hospitals

Chelsea has three major hospitals within walking distance of each other. Chelsea and Westminster Hospital at 369 Fulham Road is the local A&E and the hospital most Chelsea residents are discharged from. The Royal Brompton (heart and lung) and the Royal Marsden (cancer) are specialist hospitals, and people often go home from them tired and unsteady. The 211 runs from the King's Road to Chelsea and Westminster's door. If a discharge is coming, tell us early so we can assess in time. The council's short-term reablement service may come in first, and our care can follow. See hospital discharge care.

Live-in care in a Chelsea house

A live-in carer needs their own bedroom, which Chelsea's houses and larger mansion flats often have. The distance from Lewisham stops mattering once the carer has moved in. It suits couples, and people who shouldn't be on their own for long stretches of the day. More on live-in care in Kensington and Chelsea.

Respite for the person doing the caring

If a husband, wife or daughter is caring day to day, they can ask the council for a carer's assessment of their own. Carers Network carries out some of those assessments for the borough. A short live-in stay or extra visits give them a break. See respite care in Kensington and Chelsea.

• Personal care
• Medication support
• Companionship
• Dementia care
• Palliative care
• Live-in care

What we can help with in Chelsea

• 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