Home Care in Highams Park

Yes, we can provide home care in Highams Park. Live-in care is the arrangement we can offer most reliably here, because a live-in carer moves in and the journey from our Lewisham office stops mattering. Visiting care is possible too, but only when we have a carer free for your times, so we check that before agreeing anything. Either way, it starts with a free assessment at home and a written care plan.

A level crossing, a lake and long-settled streets

The neighbourhood is centred on its station on the Chingford branch, and the level crossing beside it is the only place in Highams Park where traffic can cross the railway. Shops line The Avenue and Hale End Road, and Hale End Library is on The Avenue, a reminder that the whole area was once called Hale End. To the west is Highams Park itself, the lake Humphry Repton made by damming the River Ching, now looked after by the City of London as part of Epping Forest.

The houses are mostly Victorian and 1930s terraces, with some semis, and many older residents have owned their homes for decades. When a parent like that starts to need help, the family organising it may live miles away, so we keep relatives involved by phone and in writing as well as at the assessment.

Is live-in care practical in a Highams Park house?

Often it is. The practical requirement is a bedroom the carer can have to themselves, and a three-bedroom terrace or semi usually has one, even if it is currently full of boxes. A live-in carer can cover personal care, meals, medication prompts and company through the day, and one carer can support a couple where both need some help.

Two things we look at closely:

• The stairs. In many of these terraces the only toilet is upstairs. Sometimes the answer is a downstairs bedroom, a commode or a stairlift; a council occupational therapist can advise.
• The carer's breaks. A live-in carer needs a daily break. Family nearby can cover it, or we plan visits around it.

Our live-in care in Waltham Forest page goes into the detail.

Visits: being straight about the distance

Highams Park is about 70 to 80 minutes from Lewisham by public transport. Carers arrive by the Overground Weaver line (the station is in zone 4 and step-free) or by bus: the 212 links Chingford and Walthamstow through the station, the 275 runs from Walthamstow to Woodford and Barkingside, and the W16 runs down to Wood Street and Leytonstone. A visiting package can work when we have a carer living within reach. Ask us, and we will tell you plainly whether we can cover the calls you need.

Who pays for home care in Highams Park?

Families of long-settled homeowners often assume the council will not be interested because Mum or Dad has savings. That is a reason to ask, not to skip it. Under the Care Act the council must assess anyone who appears to need care, whatever their money, and the assessment can lead to an occupational therapist's advice and equipment for those stairs even if the person ends up paying for their own care. Call Waltham Forest Adult Social Care on 020 8496 3130, or try the online self assessment tool first. If savings are below the national limits, a financial assessment works out the contribution and the council's share can come as a direct payment. Where needs are mainly medical, ask the GP or ward about NHS Continuing Healthcare. We quote in writing after our own assessment. More on the borough route is on our Waltham Forest home care page, and the means test is explained in our paying for care guide.

A break for whoever is doing the caring

When one partner is the main carer for the other, it is easy for their own health to slip. Respite care gives the carer a rest: a live-in carer for a week or two while they go into hospital or on holiday, or regular sit-in time. The council's carer's assessment can open up support for the carer in their own right, and Carers First runs the borough's carers service on 0300 303 1555.

What we can help with in Highams Park

• 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