Home Care in Leytonstone

Yes, we provide home care in Leytonstone, both regular visits and live-in care. It starts with a free assessment at home, then a written care plan that sets out what the carer does at each call. Our office is in Lewisham, not in Waltham Forest, but Leytonstone is one of the easier parts of the borough for us to reach, so visiting care is a realistic option here. We still have to check carer availability for the times you want.

Can a carer get to Leytonstone from Lewisham?

Usually, yes. The DLR runs from Lewisham to Stratford, and from there Leytonstone is two stops on the Central line, so the whole journey is roughly 45 to 55 minutes. Leytonstone High Road on the Overground Suffragette line and the bus station beside the Tube, served by around ten routes, fill in the rest.

A car is not much use for visiting care here. Much of Leytonstone is in controlled parking zones, so carers come by Tube, Overground or bus. If you are an unpaid family carer on Carer's Allowance and the person you look after lives in a CPZ, Waltham Forest issues a free carer's parking permit.

The houses and flats we work in

Most of Leytonstone was built as a railway suburb after the station opened in 1856, and the side streets off the High Road, Cann Hall Road and Grove Green Road are mostly Victorian and Edwardian terraces. Many have since been split into flats, and the upstairs flat is where problems tend to show: a steep internal staircase, a narrow landing and a bathroom with a bath, not a shower. At the assessment we look at where the person sleeps and washes, and whether a council occupational therapist should be asked about rails, a bath board or a stairlift.

There is social housing too. The Cathall Road estate was one of four estates the Waltham Forest Housing Action Trust redeveloped before it closed in 2002. In any block, the questions are about the lift, the entry system and where a key safe can go.

The hospital at the top of the High Road

Whipps Cross University Hospital, run by Barts Health NHS Trust, sits where Leytonstone meets the forest, so for most families here outpatient clinics, A&E and visiting are a short bus ride from home. The 257 runs past it along the High Road, and several of the routes from the bus station beside the Tube head that way too. That closeness makes it practical for a carer to go with someone to a clinic and bring them back within one longer visit.

For a discharge, the council's free reablement service usually comes first; our Waltham Forest page explains how it works. If you want private care alongside it or after it, tell us while discharge is still being planned so we can say honestly what we can staff.

How do I ask Waltham Forest Council to assess my parent in Leytonstone?

Phone the Adult Social Care Team on 020 8496 3130, or start with the council's online self assessment tool, which gives an early idea of eligibility. The council's getting help page explains the needs assessment, which can be done face to face or by phone. If the person is eligible, a financial assessment decides what they contribute, and the council's share can be paid as a direct payment so you choose the agency. NHS Continuing Healthcare may fund care where the main need is a health need. We quote in writing after our own assessment, and our paying for care guide covers the means test. The Waltham Forest home care page covers the wider borough.

Live-in care and breaks for family

A live-in carer needs a bedroom of their own, which a one-bedroom conversion may not have. Where there is a spare room, one carer can look after a couple. For a son or daughter doing most of the caring, respite care can be a weekly sit-in, a run of extra visits or live-in cover while you are away.

What we can help with in Leytonstone

• 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