Islington · Central London
Home Care in Islington
Visiting carers for washing, dressing, meals and medication in Islington homes, from Clerkenwell walk-ups to Archway tower blocks, arranged after a free assessment.
Yes, we provide home care in Islington. Carers visit at set times to help with personal care, meals, medication and the jobs that have become hard to manage, and the visits are planned around a free home assessment and a written care plan. Visits are easiest to arrange in the south and centre of the borough; further north it depends on which carers are free, so ask us.
Which parts of Islington can a visiting carer reach?
Our office is on Lewisham High Street in SE13. We do not have a base in Islington, so the honest answer depends on where you live. The southern half of the borough is one of the easiest parts of north London to reach from Lewisham: Thameslink runs from London Bridge to Farringdon in about ten minutes, and the Northern line runs from London Bridge and Bank to Angel. That puts Clerkenwell and Angel roughly 30 to 35 minutes from our office, and Barnsbury, Canonbury and Highbury roughly 35 to 45 minutes, using the Overground from Shadwell up to Canonbury and Highbury & Islington.
Holloway, Archway, Upper Holloway and the Islington side of Finsbury Park are 45 to 55 minutes away. We do cover them, but whether we can staff regular visits there depends on carer availability at the time you call. We will tell you plainly. If visits are not workable, live-in care is, because a live-in carer does not travel each day.
Carers in Islington mostly travel by Tube, bus or bike. The council runs around two dozen controlled parking zones, several with extra restrictions on Arsenal match days around the Emirates Stadium, Clerkenwell and Finsbury sit inside the Congestion Charge zone, and the whole borough is inside the ULEZ.
Help with the day, visit by visit
A visit is booked for a purpose: getting up, washed and dressed; a cooked lunch and a check that tablets were taken; help into bed at night. Visits can also cover shopping on Chapel Market or at the Nag's Head, laundry, or company.
When the lift on your block is out
Most older people in Islington live in flats. On the big post-war estates in Holloway, Archway, Finsbury and around Highbury Quadrant, a working lift is the difference between getting out to the shops and being stuck indoors for a week. Tell us at the assessment which floor you are on and how reliable the lift has been, because it changes what we plan for.
Barnsbury, Canonbury and Highbury have the opposite problem. The Georgian and early-Victorian terraces there were split into flats long ago, so the front door may be up a steep shared staircase with no handrail on one side. In Clerkenwell and around Angel, the old philanthropic and mansion blocks often have no lift at all. Period bathrooms in all of these tend to be narrow, which makes a level-access shower or a bath lift hard to fit. If equipment would help, ask the council for an occupational therapy assessment; it uses the same online request form as a needs assessment.
Going home from the Whittington or UCH
Most Islington residents come home from the Whittington at Archway or University College Hospital on Euston Road, and some from the Royal Free. Hospital discharge referrals into council care go through Islington's Integrated Health and Care Front Door. Whittington Health's social work team covers Islington patients at the Whittington and the Royal Free who will need care at home, and the Islington Rapid Response team supports early discharges from both the Whittington and UCLH, with reablement or intermediate care where it fits.
Ask about us before the discharge date is set. If you want private visits from us after a stay at the Whittington or UCH, call while the ward is still planning, not on the morning of discharge. We need to assess, check which carers can cover your part of the borough, and agree start times. Our hospital discharge support page explains how it works.
How do I ask Islington Council for help at home?
Islington Adult Social Care takes requests through its Integrated Health and Care Front Door, which many people still call the Access Service. You can request a needs assessment online or phone 020 7527 2299, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. The council calls its approach "Bright Lives": expect questions about what you can still do and who already helps. Outside office hours the Emergency Duty Team is on 020 7226 0992 for urgent adult social care and safeguarding; if someone is in danger, call 999.
If you are found eligible, you can take the council's support as direct payments and use them to buy care from a private provider such as us. The council's Direct Payments team is on 020 7527 8164.
How much does home care cost in Islington?
We give you a written quote after the free assessment, once we know how many visits are needed, how long each one is and at what times of day. We do not quote over the phone. If Islington Council is involved, a financial assessment decides how much you contribute, and the council's online cost of care calculator gives you an early idea of that before you apply. If you are paying for yourself, the NHS guide to paying for your own care covers what to check. Our paying for care guide explains NHS Continuing Healthcare and the means test.
Memory and sight: two Islington services worth knowing
If memory is the worry, ask the GP for a referral to the Islington Memory Service, run by North London NHS Foundation Trust from Brewery Road, N7. It mainly sees people over 65 and can visit people who are housebound. After a diagnosis, the trust's Dementia Navigator Service offers longer-term support to the person and their family. Home care sits alongside both.
For sight loss, Moorfields Eye Hospital on City Road is in the south of the borough. Sensory impairment is one of our registered specialisms, so tell us about eyesight at the assessment: carers can label and lay out medication, keep furniture where it has always been, and read post aloud.
What we can help with in Islington
- 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
Areas of Islington we cover
Care across the borough, including these neighbourhoods. Each has its own page with local detail.
Our services
How we can help in Islington
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Islington FAQs
Before you call: Islington home care questions
Questions families ask us about Islington. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionMy dad lives near Finsbury Park. Is that Islington, Haringey or Hackney?
It could be any of them. Finsbury Park is split three ways, and the park itself is in Haringey. Check his council tax bill, because that tells you which council to ask for an assessment. We cover all three boroughs either way.
Will Arsenal match days affect my mum's visits in Highbury?
They can affect the roads, buses and parking around the Emirates, Highbury, Holloway and Finsbury Park. Our carers mostly travel by Tube and bus, which helps, but on a home match day allow for crowds near Arsenal and Holloway Road stations.
My aunt has macular degeneration and is treated at Moorfields. Can you help?
Yes. Sensory impairment is one of our CQC-registered specialisms. At the assessment we look at how she manages her medication, cooking and post, and set the visits around the help she actually wants.
My father is more comfortable speaking Greek. Can you send a Greek-speaking carer?
We cannot promise a particular language. Tell us at the assessment and we will try to match him with a suitable carer. Islington Council's Alsen Day Centre on Durham Road, N7, has Greek-speaking staff, and a place there is arranged through a council assessment.
We already get a council care package. Can we add private visits on top?
Yes. You can pay privately for an extra visit, a sit-in or a weekly outing alongside what the council arranges. We agree the times so the two do not overlap.
Get started
Looking for care in Islington?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.