Home Care in Epsom and Ewell

Arranging care for someone in Epsom and Ewell usually means dealing with two councils, one hospital trust and a handful of local services that many families only find out about by accident. This page sets them out in the order you are likely to need them. Our part is live-in care, which we can look at for any address in the borough. Short daily visits are a different matter: we have no team in Surrey, so we only agree to them if a carer of ours lives close enough to keep them going, and that is rare.

Surrey, Epsom & Ewell, or London? Check the council first

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council collects the bins and runs housing, parking enforcement and several services for older residents. Adult social care is not one of them. Needs assessments, carers' assessments, care funding and the means test are all Surrey County Council's job.

Addresses on the edge of the borough need a second look. The KT4 postcode around Worcester Park is shared between Epsom and Ewell, Sutton and Kingston, and only the Cuddington side is in Surrey. Streets towards Cheam, Tolworth or Chessington can belong to a London borough with a completely different system. Put the postcode into the government's find your local council tool before you ring anyone.

There is a change coming as well. From 1 April 2027, Epsom and Ewell, Elmbridge, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead and Tandridge come together as East Surrey Council, which also takes over the county council's services in that area, adult social care included. Until that date, Surrey is still the place to go.

Getting a needs assessment from Surrey

1. Fill in the self-assessment. Surrey's online social care needs self-assessment asks for an email address, a phone number and the GP's details. You can ask a family member, friend or carer to be with you at the assessment.
2. Or phone. The adult social care information and advice line is 0300 200 1005, 9am to 5pm on weekdays.
3. A conversation with the local care team. Surrey confirms it has the form by email, then talks to the person face to face, by video or by phone.
4. A letter with the decision. If needs are eligible, a financial assessment follows. Surrey can then arrange support or pay a direct payment so the family chooses who provides it.

Paying privately doesn't require any of this, but the assessment is free and can open doors to equipment and adaptations. Our guide to the needs assessment covers what to say on the day.

After an operation or an admission at Epsom Hospital

Epsom Hospital on Dorking Road has a busy A&E, and the Epsom and St Helier trust does the great majority of its booked operations there. The Elective Orthopaedic Centre on the site takes hip and knee patients from St George's, Croydon and Kingston too. So a lot of people in the borough come home after a booked joint replacement, with a date known weeks ahead. That is the time to plan help, not the day before discharge.

Two things can bridge the first weeks. Surrey's reablement service is free and lasts from a few days up to six weeks, but ward or social care staff have to refer you; you can't ask for it directly. Separately, Mole Valley Life runs a Hospital to Home Support Service for people leaving hospital in the Surrey Downs area, which covers Epsom: up to six weeks of welfare phone calls, a Lifeline alarm and help finding other services. Some extras are charged. You can refer yourself on 01372 204500 before the discharge date.

Some Epsom and Ewell residents end up at St Helier in Carshalton or at Kingston Hospital instead, depending on where they live and what happened. The discharge routes from those wards follow the same Surrey rules, because they depend on the person's home address, not the hospital.

What the borough council can do in the meantime

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council runs a good deal of practical help for older people itself, much of it from the Community & Wellbeing Centre on Sefton Road in Longmead.

• A personal alarm. The council's Community Alarm service is the one Surrey lists for this borough. It offers alarm devices, GPS options and monitoring, and the council says installation and maintenance are free. Call 01372 732000.
• Hot meals. Meals at Home are cooked at the centre and delivered five days a week.
• Lifts to the centre. Transport from Home is an assisted door-to-door service for people who can't manage buses.
• Books brought to the door. Surrey's Library Direct sends a DBS-checked volunteer with books and audiobooks to people who can't get to Epsom, Ewell, Ewell Court or Stoneleigh library.

None of these replaces help with washing, dressing or medicines, but together they can keep someone safe and fed while the bigger decisions are made.

Adapting the house: grants and dementia changes

If the stairs or the bath have become the problem, the route to a grab rail, a level-access shower or a stairlift starts with an occupational therapist. Ask Surrey for the assessment on 0300 200 1005. If the therapist recommends work, they pass it to the borough council's Housing Grants Team, and the Home Improvement Agency helps with the whole Disabled Facilities Grant application. It is for Epsom and Ewell residents only, and tenants can apply as well as owners.

The same agency told residents in September 2025 that it can help with dementia funding for smaller changes: labels on doors and cupboards, brighter lighting where tasks happen, safer flooring, contrasting colours for toilet seats and grab rails, and reminder technology. For someone in the early stages, that kind of change can matter as much as a carer. Email HIA@epsom-ewell.gov.uk or call 01372 732000 to ask whether you qualify.

Housing in the borough is mostly houses: in the 2021 Census about six in ten homes were detached or semi-detached, and around one in five was a purpose-built flat. The older cottages in Ewell village and near the town centre tend to have the steepest stairs and the smallest bathrooms, and those are the homes where an early OT visit pays off.

Parking for carers who drive

Many streets have no permit scheme, but some do, mostly near the town centre and Ewell village (the council's 2019 list showed small residents' zones there), and they catch out visitors. Since April 2023, on-street permits here have come from Surrey County Council. Its carers' permit is free, lasts a year and is for a housebound resident who needs regular visits from carers. It only works in on-street permit areas or bays. Apply online or on 0330 175 5930.

What we can offer in Epsom

Wherever the address is in the borough, we can offer live-in care. Our carer stays in the spare room and is on hand through the day, so the trip from south-east London only happens at changeovers. First we visit, free of charge, and agree a written plan with you. Day to day, that plan might include:

• Personal care, from a morning wash to getting ready for bed
• Medicines, prompted or given from the pharmacy pack and recorded
• Cooking, laundry and the shopping
• Company, including a walk round Nonsuch Park or out to Horton Country Park
• Getting to appointments at Epsom Hospital or the GP

If what you need is an hour each morning and evening, we will tell you plainly that we probably can't staff it, and point you back to Surrey's adult social care line for agencies based in the area.

Everything our carers can help with →