Earl's Court · Kensington and Chelsea
Home Care in Earl's Court, SW5
Visiting care for older people living alone in the flats and converted houses around Earl's Court Road, Nevern Square and Earl's Court Square, plus live-in care and respite where the home allows.
Yes, we provide home care in Earl's Court. Carers can visit to help with getting up, washing, meals, medication and the shopping, and Jackie, our registered manager, does a free home assessment before anything starts. Earl's Court is on the District line straight from Victoria, so it's one of the parts of Kensington and Chelsea our Lewisham-based carers can reach most easily. Visit times still depend on who is available, so please ask.
Living alone in a small flat
Earl's Court has always had more flats and fewer houses than the rest of the borough. The tall Victorian terraces were built for single families on the Edwardes and Gunter estates. That's why so many streets have Welsh names, like Nevern, Penywern and Philbeach, or Yorkshire ones, like Barkston, Bramham and Wetherby. By the end of the nineteenth century some were already being run as boarding houses. Today, the same buildings are divided into studios and one-bedroom flats.
The area is known for people passing through, but many older people have lived here for decades, often alone.
Stairs, bedsits and small bathrooms
Common problems in an Earl's Court conversion:
- Four or five flights of shared stairs and no lift, so a fall or a hospital stay can leave someone stuck indoors.
- A bathroom with a bath, no shower and no room for a second person to help.
- One room for living and sleeping, which leaves little space for a commode or a profiling bed.
- Front steps up from the pavement, with no rail.
None of this rules out care at home, but it does change the plan. A strip wash might replace a bath for a while. A rail or a bath board might be fitted. Some help on the stairs at each visit can mean someone still gets out to the shops. The council's occupational therapists can assess for equipment and adaptations, and we'll suggest asking for that.
Who can help with the cost of care in Earl's Court?
Earl's Court is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, so start with its Adult Social Care team. You can apply for a needs assessment online or ring 020 7361 3013 on weekdays. If needs are eligible, the council looks at income and savings to decide what the person contributes, and can pay its share as a direct payment to spend on an agency of their choice. Someone renting a small flat on a modest pension may well qualify for help, so it's worth asking.
We give our own fees in writing after the free assessment. More on the borough-wide process is on our Kensington and Chelsea home care page.
Brompton Cemetery is a good place to walk. Brompton Cemetery, run by the Royal Parks, lies between the Old Brompton Road and the Fulham Road. Its long, level central avenue makes it one of the quietest walks nearby. A carer and a slow lap of the avenue count as a companionship visit.
Who else to call
People living alone in Earl's Court may benefit from more than paid care:
- Age UK Kensington & Chelsea on 020 8969 9105 offers information and advice, befriending, escorting to appointments and foot care.
- Carers Network (020 8960 3033) supports unpaid carers across Kensington and Chelsea and carries out some carers' assessments for the council. Its details are in the KCSC directory.
- Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on the Fulham Road is the local A&E and the usual discharge hospital. The 328 from Earl's Court Road stops outside it on the Fulham Road. If a discharge is coming, see hospital discharge care.
Travelling to Earl's Court
Earl's Court station has the District and Piccadilly lines. West Brompton, at the southern end, has the District line and the Overground. The 74, 328, C1 and C3 run along Earl's Court Road and nearby streets, and the 430 runs along the Old Brompton Road past West Brompton station. The former Exhibition Centre site, demolished about ten years ago, is being redeveloped, so expect building work along the western edge.
Live-in care and respite
Live-in care needs a spare bedroom. In Earl's Court that usually means a larger mansion flat or one of the remaining whole houses, not a studio. Where there's room, it's the most dependable form of care. See live-in care in Kensington and Chelsea. Where there isn't, visiting care is the answer, and a relative who normally helps can still have a break through extra visits for a week or two. Read about respite care in Kensington and Chelsea.
What we can help with in Earl's Court
- 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 Kensington and Chelsea
Home care pages for other parts of Kensington and Chelsea:
Our services
How we can help in Kensington and Chelsea
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Visiting care in Kensington and Chelsea
Regular visits for personal care, medication, meals and company.
Read more →Live-in care in Kensington and Chelsea
A carer who lives in, for one person or a couple.
Read more →Respite care in Kensington and Chelsea
Cover so a family carer can rest, recover or go away.
Read more →Supported living in Kensington and Chelsea
Our homes in Whitton, Kingston and Uxbridge.
Read more →Earl's Court FAQs
Earl's Court questions
Questions families ask us about Earl's Court. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionHis address says Earls Court but the postcode is SW6. Which council is it?
Probably Hammersmith and Fulham. The railway line west of Warwick Road is the boundary, and SW6 and W14 addresses that use the Earls Court name are usually on the Fulham side. The council tax bill will confirm it. See our Hammersmith and Fulham page if so.
She lives in a fourth-floor studio with no lift. Is home care realistic?
Often, yes. Carers come up the stairs, so she doesn't have to go down them. The bigger question is how she'd get out in an emergency or to appointments, and we'll talk through that, including a pendant alarm, at the assessment.
Can a carer come at the same time as the district nurse?
We can plan visits around the community nursing team's visits so they don't overlap in a small flat, and share notes about anything the nurses need to know, with your permission.
Could you help with shopping on Earl's Court Road?
Yes. Shopping can be done for someone or with them, and many people prefer to go along. See home help.
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