Home Care in Dagenham

We can arrange care at home in Dagenham. For most Dagenham addresses, live-in care is the arrangement we can commit to most reliably, because a carer moves in and our distance from Lewisham stops mattering. Visiting care is sometimes possible, depending on whether we have a carer free for your times, so please ask. Either way, we visit first for a free assessment, and you get a written care plan.

A Ford town that grew old in the same houses

Modern Dagenham was built in a hurry between the wars. The London County Council laid out the Becontree estate from 1921, and Ford started making cars at its Dagenham plant beside the Thames in 1931. Employment there peaked at around 40,000 in 1953. Vehicle assembly ended in 2002, but the generation who worked there or raised families nearby is still here. Many of them still live in the council house they first rented, and later bought.

Those houses are mostly two-storey terraces and semis, with narrow, steep stairs, a small bathroom upstairs and a small kitchen. A few practical consequences follow:

• The stairs are usually the first problem. A stairlift, a second banister, or moving a bed into the front room is often what makes it safe to stay at home. The council can arrange an occupational therapy assessment for equipment and adaptations as part of its needs assessment.
• Upstairs bathrooms with a bath, not a shower, make strip washes or a bath lift common. We plan personal care around the room you actually have.

Coming home from Queen's Hospital

For most of Dagenham, the A&E is Queen's Hospital on Rom Valley Way in Romford, run by Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust. The 175 bus links Dagenham Heathway station with the hospital, which has its own bus station. At discharge the ward works with the council's adult social care, which can offer reablement: short-term support to rebuild confidence and abilities after illness or a hospital stay. If longer-term help is needed after that, we can step in.

Day-to-day community nursing and therapy come from NELFT, which runs health centres in Dagenham including Broad Street Health Centre (Morland Road, RM10), Church Elm Lane Health Centre (RM10) and Julia Engwell Health Centre (Woodward Road, RM9).

Stations and buses carers use

The District line runs through Dagenham with two stations: Dagenham Heathway, in the middle of the shopping street, and Dagenham East. The 173, 174 and 175 buses stop at Heathway station. The 103 and 364 stop at Dagenham East. In the south, Dagenham Dock is on the c2c line. From our Lewisham office it is about an hour or more by DLR, Jubilee and District lines, so daily visits are hard to staff.

How much does home care in Dagenham cost, and does the council help?

We quote after our assessment, in writing, because the cost depends on how much help is needed and when. On funding, the first call is to the council's Adult Intake Team on 020 8227 2915 (intaketeam@lbbd.gov.uk) to request a needs assessment. If the council finds eligible needs, a means test works out how much your relative contributes. Where needs are mainly medical, ask the hospital or GP about an NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment. Our guide to paying for care and the Barking and Dagenham borough page cover direct payments and the rest of the council route.

Live-in care, couples and short breaks

One live-in carer can support a husband and wife who have shared a Dagenham house for fifty years, giving full care to one and lighter help to the other. The carer needs their own bedroom and daily breaks, and we cover their days off. If a son or daughter has been doing the caring, a live-in carer for a fortnight gives them a real break. Ask the council for a carer's assessment too.

Help we arrange in Dagenham

• Live-in care
• Dementia care
• Personal care
• Respite care
• Hospital discharge support
• Palliative care
• Medication support
• Companionship

What we can help with in Dagenham

• 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