Clerkenwell · Islington
Home Care in Clerkenwell and Finsbury
Carers for older and disabled people in EC1, from Exmouth Market and Spa Fields to Clerkenwell Green, Rosebery Avenue and the Farringdon edge.
Yes, we provide home care in Clerkenwell, from short visits for washing, dressing, meals and medication to a live-in carer. Clerkenwell is the part of Islington closest to our Lewisham office, because Thameslink runs from London Bridge to Farringdon in about ten minutes, so regular visits are often realistic, subject to a carer being free at your times. We begin with a free home assessment and a written care plan.
The residents behind the restaurants
Clerkenwell is known for offices, design studios and the restaurants of Exmouth Market and Clerkenwell Green. Less visible are the older people who have lived here for decades, mostly in council and housing association flats: the Finsbury estates, Victorian philanthropic blocks, and Berthold Lubetkin's Spa Green Estate on Rosebery Avenue, built after the war. Newer warehouse conversions have lifts and wide doors; many of the older blocks have neither.
Walk-up blocks and what they mean for care
Victorian mansion and tenement blocks were built with stone staircases and no lifts, and many still have none. For someone on the fourth floor, that shapes almost everything. Carers can bring the shopping up, collect prescriptions and make sure the flat has what it needs, but getting out to the GP or the market becomes a planned trip, done slowly, with a carer alongside.
Equipment is harder too. A hoist or a hospital bed has to come up the stairs and fit a small bedroom, and some bathrooms have little room for a shower seat. We look at all of this on the first visit. If the stairs have become unsafe, Islington Council's occupational therapists and housing team are the people to involve, and we can help you put the case.
How do carers get to Clerkenwell from Lewisham?
By train and on foot. Farringdon has Thameslink, the Elizabeth line and the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines; Angel, on the Northern line, is at the top of St John Street. The 19, 38 and 341 run along Rosebery Avenue past Sadler's Wells, the 55 and 243 along Clerkenwell Road, the 63 down Farringdon Road and the 153 along St John Street.
Driving is the slow option. Clerkenwell is inside the Congestion Charge zone, and two of the council's parking zones are controlled 24 hours a day, including weekends. Families visiting by car should check which zone the street is in and the council's parking zone hours first.
Finsbury Health Centre. Lubetkin's 1938 health centre on Pine Street, behind Exmouth Market, is still in NHS use. It houses Clerkenwell Medical Practice (EC1R 0LP), which the NHS website listed as accepting new patients at the time of writing. A carer can walk your relative there and back.
Hospitals on the doorstep
Few neighbourhoods have this many specialist hospitals close by. Moorfields Eye Hospital is on City Road and has its own eye casualty. St Bartholomew's, just south in West Smithfield, is a specialist heart and cancer centre run by Barts Health, with no general A&E. Emergencies from Clerkenwell often go to University College Hospital on Euston Road.
Whichever ward your relative leaves, if they live in Islington, discharge into social care goes through the council's Integrated Health and Care Front Door. Call us while the date is being planned. Our hospital discharge page explains how we take over at home.
Care available in Clerkenwell
Visiting care covers personal care, medication support, home help and companionship, and a sit-in service while a family member goes out. We also provide dementia care, complex care and palliative care at the end of life. Our CQC registration includes sensory impairment, which matters for people managing sight loss alongside Moorfields appointments. Nail care is mainly run in south-east London, so ask.
Getting Islington Council involved
To request a needs assessment, phone 020 7527 2299 or use the council's online form. Funding depends on a means test, and we quote in writing after our own assessment. Our Islington home care page has the full picture, including direct payments and carers' support.
A carer who lives in, or a break for you
Live-in care needs a spare bedroom, which one-bedroom flats in the older blocks rarely have; two-bedroom flats and conversions can work. For a family carer who needs a break, we can cover a regular afternoon or a longer spell through respite care, and the council's carer's assessment may help fund it.
What we can help with in Clerkenwell
- 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
Elsewhere in Islington
Home care pages for other parts of Islington:
Our services
How we can help in Islington
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Visiting care in Islington
Regular visits for personal care, medication, meals and company.
Read more →Live-in care in Islington
A carer who lives in, for one person or a couple.
Read more →Respite care in Islington
Cover so a family carer can rest, recover or go away.
Read more →Supported living in Islington
Our homes in Whitton, Kingston and Uxbridge.
Read more →Clerkenwell FAQs
Clerkenwell FAQs
Questions families ask us about Clerkenwell. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionMy aunt has macular degeneration and goes to Moorfields. Can a carer help with that?
Yes. A carer can go with her to appointments on City Road, read post aloud, label and organise medicines and eye drops as her care plan sets out, and keep the flat laid out the way she can find things.
Is a Farringdon address always in Islington?
No. The City of London starts just to the south around Smithfield, and Camden lies to the west, so a nearby address may come under a different council. The council tax bill settles it. We can provide private care either way; the needs assessment must come from the right council.
Dad is coming home from Barts after heart surgery. What should we organise?
Ask the ward about his discharge plan and any equipment, and make sure Islington's Front Door has the referral if he will need council support. Then call us with the expected date, and we will tell you which visits we can cover from the first day.
Mum's block has no lift and she is on the top floor. Can you still help?
Yes. The carer comes up to her. We plan the week so heavy shopping is delivered or carried up, and outings happen when she has the energy for the stairs, with a carer beside her.
Get started
Looking for care in Clerkenwell?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.