Home Care in New Eltham, SE9

Yes, we provide home care in New Eltham. Carers visit for personal care, medication, meals and company, or one carer lives in with you. New Eltham is on a direct Sidcup-line run from Lewisham, where our office is, so visits are practical here when a carer is free for your times. Everything starts with a free assessment in your home and a written care plan.

From Pope Street to Avery Hill: the area we mean

New Eltham grew up around the old hamlet and crossroads of Pope Street, where Footscray Road meets Avery Hill Road. The station opened as Pope Street in 1878, and the centre is still small: the station, the Co-op, the Post Office, the library and a row of shops.

We cover the SE9 streets around it: Footscray Road towards Sidcup, Avery Hill Road up to the park and the University of Greenwich's Southwood site, Sparrows Lane, Green Lane, Thaxted Road and the roads off Sidcup Road (the A20).

New Eltham runs into Bexley on its eastern side, so check the council tax bill before asking for an assessment. Bexley addresses go to Bexley Council.

A 1930s semi, one staircase and an upstairs bathroom

Most of New Eltham was built on farmland in the 1930s: semis and short terraces with a straight flight of stairs and the only bathroom upstairs, plus some bungalows, which are far easier to care in.

A straight staircase usually takes a stairlift easily. The upstairs bath is the harder part. If getting in and out has become frightening, we raise it at the assessment, and the council's occupational therapists can look at a level-access shower or bathing equipment.

Getting to New Eltham

New Eltham station is by the crossroads. Both platforms have been step-free since a footbridge with lifts opened in 2014, which helps with a walking frame or wheelchair. Some London trains run via Lewisham, a journey of roughly 15 to 20 minutes from our office.

Buses serving the station include the 160, 162, 233, 314, 321 and B13. The 321 runs through Eltham and Lewisham to New Cross.

Which hospital will Dad come home from?

For an emergency admission it is usually Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich. Queen Mary's in Sidcup is closer but has no full A&E. Outpatient clinics, therapy and scans are often at Eltham Community Hospital on Passey Place, a short bus ride away in Eltham.

Tell us as soon as the ward mentions a discharge date, so we can say honestly whether we can staff visits from the first day home. See our hospital discharge support.

How do I get a council assessment for home care in New Eltham?

Ask the Royal Borough of Greenwich, through its online ask for support form or the Contact Assessment Team on 020 8921 2304. Get a parent's permission before applying for them. A financial assessment then decides whether the council pays some, all or none of the cost, and NHS Continuing Healthcare may fund care in full where needs are mainly health needs. We quote in writing after our own free assessment. Our Greenwich home care page covers direct payments and the wider borough.

Care we provide in New Eltham

• Personal care: washing, dressing and continence care.
• Medication support: prompts or help with medicines, recorded each visit.
• Home help: shopping at the Co-op, laundry and meals.
• Companionship, including a walk round Avery Hill Park.
• A sit-in service when someone should not be alone.
• Dementia care built around familiar routines.
• Live-in care for individuals and couples.
• Respite care
• Complex care and palliative care at home.
• Hospital discharge support
• Nail care: just outside our usual area, so ask.

Live-in care in a New Eltham semi

A live-in carer needs a bedroom of their own, and the box room in a 1930s semi is often enough. One carer can support a couple, so a husband and wife can stay together in the house they have lived in for decades. Because the carer moves in, distance from our office makes no difference.

When the family carer needs a break

Family carers can ask Royal Greenwich for a carer's assessment. Greenwich Carers Centre in Charlton (0300 300 2233) offers advice and support. Our respite runs from weekly cover to a live-in carer while you go away. For dementia, the borough's support service is run by South East London Mind, not Alzheimer's Society.

What we can help with in New Eltham

• 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