Eltham · Greenwich
Home Care and Live-in Carers in Eltham
Help at home across SE9, from the Progress Estate and Well Hall to Middle Park, Horn Park, Coldharbour and the roads off Eltham High Street.
We can provide home care in Eltham, both visiting carers and live-in care. Eltham is about ten to fifteen minutes from Lewisham by Southeastern train, and the 321 bus runs from Lewisham station along Eltham Road and the High Street. That puts it within comfortable reach of our office. We start with a free home assessment, then write a care plan, and we confirm carer availability before agreeing any visit times.
Which Eltham? The estates shape the care
Eltham is really a string of estates built around an old town and a royal palace, and each has its own kind of house.
The Progress Estate (Well Hall). The government built it in 1915, in under a year, for skilled Royal Arsenal munitions workers. It has been a conservation area since 1975. The cottages are charming but compact: narrow staircases, small bathrooms and doorways not designed for a wheelchair. Conservation rules can also affect changes to the outside, such as a ramp or a new door, so speak to the council before ordering anything.
Middle Park and Horn Park. These were built from the 1930s on former hunting grounds of Eltham Palace. Middle Park was built in 1931 to 1936, and Horn Park was begun in 1936 and finished in the 1950s. They are mostly two-storey semis and terraces with a straight staircase and the bathroom upstairs, and a stairlift usually fits.
Coldharbour. A post-war council estate dating from 1947, with later council-built streets such as the Pippenhall and Strongbow Crescent estates finished around 1960. In council-built homes, ask the landlord early about adaptations such as grab rails or a level-access shower, since they can take time.
Court Road and North Park. Some of the largest family houses in the area, where an older couple may now be rattling around in rooms they no longer use.
Why live-in care often fits an Eltham house
Many Eltham homes have a spare bedroom. That is the main practical requirement for live-in care: a carer moves in, takes their breaks, and the person stays in the house they know. In a 1930s semi, the usual adjustment is moving daytime life downstairs and fitting a stairlift or rail for the evening. For a couple, one live-in carer can support both partners at home.
Will the council pay for home care in Eltham?
It may contribute, depending on two tests. The first is a needs assessment by Royal Greenwich's Contact Assessment Team. You can request it with the council's online form or on 020 8921 2304. The second is a financial assessment, which decides how much the person pays towards care. If the council does fund care, you can take its share as a direct payment and choose an agency yourself. Some people with mainly health needs qualify for NHS Continuing Healthcare, which the NHS pays for in full. Our own fees are quoted in writing after our assessment. The Greenwich home care page has the full council details.
Health services close to the High Street
Eltham Community Hospital is at Passey Place, just off the High Street. It provides outpatient, therapy and diagnostic services but has no A&E. For follow-up appointments and therapy after a hospital stay it is a short trip, since the Passey Place stop is served by routes including the 132, 162, 286, 321, B15 and B16. Emergency admissions go to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, and the 161 runs from Eltham station to its doors. When someone comes home from there needing more help, our hospital discharge support can pick up the first weeks.
A reason to go out. Eltham has places worth an afternoon: Eltham Palace and gardens, the Well Hall Pleasaunce, and the library inside the Eltham Centre off the High Street. A companionship visit can include a gentle trip out, as well as tasks at home.
Breaks for the person doing the caring
Where a spouse or a son or daughter in SE9 is the main carer, respite care can be a regular sit-in or a live-in carer covering a week away. The carer can ask Royal Greenwich for a carer's assessment of their own. Greenwich Carers Centre in Charlton gives free advice.
Services available in Eltham
- Live-in care
- Personal care
- Dementia care
- Medication support
- Companionship
- Home help
- Sit-in service
- Respite care
- Hospital discharge
- Complex care
- Palliative care
What we can help with in Eltham
- 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 Greenwich
Home care pages for other parts of Greenwich:
Our services
How we can help in Greenwich
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Visiting care in Greenwich
Regular visits for personal care, medication, meals and company.
Read more →Live-in care in Greenwich
A carer who lives in, for one person or a couple.
Read more →Respite care in Greenwich
Cover so a family carer can rest, recover or go away.
Read more →Supported living in Greenwich
Our homes in Whitton, Kingston and Uxbridge.
Read more →Eltham FAQs
Eltham FAQs
Questions families ask us about Eltham. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionMy parents are on the Progress Estate. Can we put in a ramp?
Possibly, but because the estate is a conservation area, check with the council before any work on the outside of the house. Indoor equipment such as rails, a shower seat or a commode is a matter for an occupational therapist, which you request through the same Contact Assessment Team.
Do you cover Mottingham, New Eltham and Avery Hill as well?
Yes, all of SE9. Mottingham straddles the Greenwich and Bromley boundary, so check your council tax bill to see which council handles a care assessment for the address.
Mum is becoming forgetful. Where do we start in Eltham?
Ask her GP about a memory assessment. In Greenwich, dementia advice and carers' workshops come from Greenwich Dementia Support, run by South East London Mind. Our dementia care can begin with short visits while she is still managing, so she gets used to a familiar face.
We live on Court Road and have plenty of space. Is a live-in carer better than visits?
It depends on the nights. If someone needs help or reassurance through the evening and night, live-in care usually makes more sense than adding visits. If the day is mostly fine apart from washing and meals, visits are simpler. The assessment is where we work that out with you.
Get started
Looking for care in Eltham?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.