Home Care in Crystal Palace

Five boroughs on one hilltop

Crystal Palace is not one council area. The ridge is where Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham meet. We list Crystal Palace under Bromley because the park itself, the station and the streets on the eastern slope, such as Crystal Palace Park Road and Anerley Hill, are in Bromley's Crystal Palace & Anerley ward. Upper Norwood, to the west, is shared between Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark, and the Triangle shops around Westow Street, Westow Hill and Church Road sit across more than one borough.

Your care assessment comes from the council that collects your council tax:

• Bromley: the Bromley care assessment form by phone.
• Croydon: see our Croydon home care page for the council route.
• Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham: for the Gipsy Hill, Dulwich Wood and Sydenham sides, see our Lambeth, Southwark and Sydenham pages.

The NHS splits too. Bromley, Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham are in NHS South East London, while Croydon is in NHS South West London, which can matter for Continuing Healthcare and community nursing.

Villas cut into flats

When the Crystal Palace was rebuilt here in the 1850s, a residential area grew up around it. On Crystal Palace Park Road, land at the edge of the park was sold for houses in the 1870s and 1880s, most designed by the architect John Norton, and many have since been divided into flats. Anerley Hill has four-storey Victorian houses, and there are post-war blocks too, such as the Chulsa Estate halfway up Crystal Palace Park Road.

The 2021 Census shows how unusual this corner is. In the Crystal Palace & Anerley ward, a quarter of households live in flats carved out of converted houses, by far the highest share in Bromley. A third rent privately, and fewer than one in ten own their home outright. For care, that means a lot of second- and third-floor flats with long shared staircases and no lift, small bathrooms, and landlords whose agreement is needed for any change. We plan around all of it at the assessment.

The hill itself

The roads up to the ridge are steep. A walk to the Triangle that looks short on a map can be a real effort for someone with a heart or lung condition, or using a frame. A carer can walk with them at their pace, use a bus for the climb, or do the shopping with them and carry it home. We agree what works in the care plan.

Trains and buses

The station by the park sits on the Bromley side of the boundary. Windrush line trains start here, Southern runs to the central London termini and Beckenham Junction, and there are lifts to every platform, with staff ramps for boarding. The bus station on the Parade is the end of many routes: the 122 from Lewisham via Forest Hill and Sydenham, the 227 to Penge, Beckenham and Bromley, and the 358 through Bromley to the Princess Royal University Hospital and Orpington.

Which hospital, and the hospice nearby

It depends where you live and why you are admitted. Depending on the street and the reason, an admission could be to Denmark Hill, Croydon, Farnborough or Lewisham. When you call about a discharge, tell us which hospital and which council, and we will work with the ward's plan.

The ridge has a hospice on its doorstep: St Christopher's, founded in Sydenham, works with people on all five sides of the hill who choose to die at home. Our carers fill the hours between its nurses' calls; see palliative care.

Getting out on the ridge

Crystal Palace Park, run by the Crystal Palace Park Trust since 2023, is home to the Grade I listed Victorian dinosaur sculptures. The Triangle has cafés and independent shops, and Upper Norwood Library Hub is on Westow Hill. A companionship visit can take in any of them, at whatever pace the hill allows. Where there is a spare bedroom, read live-in care in Crystal Palace.

How far we travel to Crystal Palace

Visiting care is realistic in the north of Bromley and along the Orpington line, subject to carer availability. Biggin Hill and the rural south are mainly live-in care.

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