Crayford · Bexley
Home Care in Crayford, DA1
Visiting carers and live-in care for Crayford households, from the streets around the station and Waterside to the River Cray, Shenstone Park and the Dartford border.
Yes, we provide home care in Crayford, either as visits or with a carer who lives in. We cover it from our Lewisham office, and Sidcup-line trains link Lewisham with Crayford station, but Crayford is near the Dartford end of that line, so whether we can staff a particular run of visits depends on carer availability and we will tell you honestly before anything is agreed. Every package starts with a free assessment at home and a written care plan.
A London town with a Dartford address
Crayford grew up around an old ford across the River Cray, and the river still runs through the middle of the town. For most of the twentieth century the town was shaped by Vickers, which took over the Maxim Nordenfeldt works here in 1897 and became the main employer. The firm's old canteen is now Crayford Town Hall, and plenty of older residents still remember the factory.
The postal address causes real confusion. Crayford letters say "Dartford, Kent", yet Crayford has been part of the London Borough of Bexley since 1965. When it comes to care, that matters: your social care comes from Bexley, not Kent County Council, even if a doctor's letter or a hospital ward suggests otherwise.
Does Bexley Council pay for home care in Crayford?
It can, if you are assessed as eligible and the financial assessment says so. Ask Bexley's Adult Social Care Single Point of Contact on 020 8303 7777, or start with the council's online self-assessment. The first person to visit may be from a OneBexley charity such as Age UK Bexley; they carry out some assessments for the council and the result counts the same way.
If the council funds some of your care, you can take it as a direct payment and use it with an agency like ours. NHS Continuing Healthcare covers some people whose needs are mainly health needs. We do not publish prices; we give a written quote after the assessment, once we know what visits are needed. The full council picture is on our Bexley home care page.
Darent Valley is the local hospital, but it is in Kent. Many Crayford patients are admitted to and discharged from Darent Valley Hospital, run by Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust. When the ward talks about "the local authority" for a Crayford patient, it means Bexley. Call us while the discharge is being planned, so we can check what we can cover; our hospital discharge page explains more. For visiting, the 428 bus runs from Crayford Town Hall to the hospital's own stop.
Homes in Crayford and what they mean for care
Most of Crayford is interwar and post-war semis and terraces, with newer flats near the town centre and along the river. In the houses, the usual story is a steep straight staircase with the bathroom at the top, so a stairlift, a commode or a bed brought downstairs often comes up at the assessment. A council occupational therapist can look at rails and equipment. In the riverside flats, the questions change: is there a lift, can a wheelchair get through the entrance, and where does a carer park?
The Crayford Station controlled parking zone takes in Waterside, Heath Road, Swaislands Drive, Royston Road and the West Heath roads, plus parts of the High Street, London Road and Crayford Way. The council's social care permit lets care staff on duty use resident and pay bays once a permit has been issued.
How carers get to Crayford
Trains from Crayford run through Sidcup and Lewisham to London, which makes it a single journey from our office. Buses help with the local rounds: the 96 runs to Woolwich one way and Dartford the other, the 492 runs via Bexleyheath and Bexley village to Sidcup, and the 428 goes north to Slade Green and Erith. Early mornings and late evenings at this end of the borough are the hardest visits to staff, which is why we agree times only when we know we can keep them.
Live-in care in Crayford
If daily visits are not workable, or more help is needed than a few calls can give, a live-in carer takes the travel out of the equation. A three-bedroom semi usually has the spare bedroom the carer needs, and one carer can support a couple. The carer has daily breaks, and we plan cover for them with you.
Respite for Crayford carers
If you are looking after someone at home, respite care can be a few hours of sit-in each week or a live-in carer while you go away. A carer's assessment from Bexley is the route to any council-funded break, and Carers' Support Bexley (020 8302 8011) carries these out as part of OneBexley.
What we can help with in Crayford
- 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 Bexley
Home care pages for other parts of Bexley:
Our services
How we can help in Bexley
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Visiting care in Bexley
Regular visits for personal care, medication, meals and company.
Read more →Live-in care in Bexley
A carer who lives in, for one person or a couple.
Read more →Respite care in Bexley
Cover so a family carer can rest, recover or go away.
Read more →Supported living in Bexley
Our homes in Whitton, Kingston and Uxbridge.
Read more →Crayford FAQs
Crayford questions
Questions families ask us about Crayford. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionOur address says Dartford. Is that a problem?
No. Crayford is in the London Borough of Bexley, whatever the postal town says, and we cover it. It also means Bexley, not Kent, handles any needs assessment and council funding.
Mum lives near the station. Will a carer be able to park?
The roads around Crayford station are in a controlled zone. Bexley's social care permit, which the care organisation applies for, lets care staff on duty use resident and pay bays; without one, we plan around pay bays and nearby unrestricted streets. Tell us the address and we will check.
Can a carer take Dad along the river or into Shenstone Park?
Yes, if it is safe and written into the care plan. A walk along the Cray, into Shenstone Park or to the High Street can be part of a companionship visit.
Do you have carers living in Crayford?
We do not have an office or a team based in Crayford. Our office is in Lewisham, and we can only say which visits we can cover once we know the times you need, so call and ask.
Get started
Looking for care in Crayford?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.