Forest Gate · Newham
Home Care in Forest Gate, E7
Care at home in the terraced streets between Wanstead Flats and West Ham Park, from Woodgrange Road and the Woodgrange Estate to the roads off Romford Road and Upton Lane.
Yes, we cover Forest Gate. Live-in care is available at any E7 address with a room for the carer. Visiting care is possible too, but Forest Gate is a longer journey for our carers than southern Newham, so whether we can take on a package of visits depends on carer availability at your times, and we check that honestly before agreeing anything. Both start with a free home assessment.
A settled place, and a house that has to keep working
Many older Forest Gate residents have lived on the same street for decades, around Woodgrange Road, the Romford Road and the roads running down towards West Ham Park. The housing is almost all Victorian and Edwardian terraces, with the larger villas of the Woodgrange Estate at the north end. Care plans here tend to start from one of three situations:
- The upstairs conversion. Many terraces are now split into two flats. The upper flat usually has a steep internal staircase straight up from its front door, which makes getting out the problem to solve.
- The whole terrace. A two-storey house with the only bathroom upstairs. A stairlift, grab rails or moving a bed down may be needed, and the council's occupational therapists can assess for these.
- The larger family house. On the Woodgrange Estate and in the bigger houses elsewhere there is often a spare room, which opens up live-in care.
Can a live-in carer move into a Forest Gate home?
In a family house, usually. The live-in carer needs their own bedroom to rest in during their daily break. In a one-bedroom conversion it rarely works, and visiting care or a move to one of Newham's extra care housing schemes may be the better conversation. Those schemes have on-site care and are reached only through a council assessment, not by applying to the landlord. For a couple, one live-in carer can support both partners in the house they know.
Travel and parking in E7
From Lewisham our carers take the DLR and Jubilee line to Stratford, then the Elizabeth line one stop to Forest Gate, about 45 to 55 minutes in all. The Overground Suffragette line stops at Wanstead Park, a short walk north of the station. Buses 58 and 330 stop at Forest Gate station, and the 25 and 86 run along Romford Road.
The Forest Gate parking zone runs Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm, and Forest Gate North runs 8am to 6.30pm. A resident with no off-road parking who needs home visits can buy Newham's Residential Carer parking permit, which carers can share.
Use the green space. Forest Gate sits between Wanstead Flats and West Ham Park. For someone who has been housebound after an illness, a short walk in the park with a carer beside them is a real goal to build towards, and it can be written into a companionship visit.
Who pays for home care in Forest Gate?
There are three routes. Newham Council funds care for people who meet the national eligibility criteria, after a needs assessment and a financial assessment that decides what they contribute. The NHS funds care in full for people who qualify for Continuing Healthcare because their needs are mainly health needs. Everyone else pays privately. If the council agrees funding, your relative can ask for a direct payment and use it to pay an agency they choose. We quote in writing after our assessment, because the cost depends on what the visits involve.
To start the council route, call the Access to Adult Social Care Team on 020 8430 2000, option 2. Our home care in Newham page explains the rest of the process.
Respite for the family carer
A spouse or adult child who provides most of the care can ask Newham for a carer's assessment. The council arranges breaks only after one. Newham Carers Community, run by Age UK East London, is the borough's carers' service. We can provide the break itself: extra visits for a week, or a live-in carer while the family goes away. See respite care.
Services available in Forest Gate
- Live-in care
- Personal care
- Respite care
- Dementia care
- Companionship
- Sit-in service
- Medication support
- Home help
- Hospital discharge support
- Complex care
- Palliative care
What we can help with in Forest Gate
- 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 Newham
Home care pages for other parts of Newham:
Our services
How we can help in Newham
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Visiting care in Newham
Regular visits for personal care, medication, meals and company.
Read more →Live-in care in Newham
A carer who lives in, for one person or a couple.
Read more →Respite care in Newham
Cover so a family carer can rest, recover or go away.
Read more →Supported living in Newham
Our homes in Whitton, Kingston and Uxbridge.
Read more →Forest Gate FAQs
What Forest Gate families ask us
Questions families ask us about Forest Gate. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionMum lives in the upstairs flat of a converted terrace. Can she stay there?
Often, yes. We look closely at the internal staircase at the assessment: whether she can manage it with a rail, and how she would get out in an emergency. If the stairs have become unsafe, we will tell you and talk through the council's occupational therapy and housing options.
Why might visits be harder to arrange here than in Stratford?
It is one more change of train from our side of the river, so each visit takes a carer longer to reach. Short, frequent visits are the hardest to staff. Longer visits and live-in care are much easier, so tell us what you need and we will say plainly what we can cover.
Dad already gets a direct payment. Can he use it with you?
Yes, direct payments can pay a care agency of the person's choice. Newham's Direct Payments Team can answer questions about what the payment covers.
My aunt walked on Wanstead Flats every day before her fall. Can a carer help her get back to it?
Yes. We agree a realistic starting point with her, which may be the end of the road at first, and the carer builds the distance up as her confidence returns. If she is under the council's reablement service, we work to the same goals.
Do you cover the Wanstead Park end of E7?
Yes, the whole of Forest Gate, including the streets around Wanstead Park station and the edge of the Flats.
Nearby
Other areas near Forest Gate
Get started
Looking for care in Forest Gate?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.