Nunhead · Southwark
Home Care in Nunhead, SE15
Yes, we provide home care in Nunhead, from visits for washing, dressing and medication to live-in care. Nunhead is the part of Southwark nearest our Lewisham office, so visiting care is realistic here, subject to a carer being free at your times. Everything starts with a free assessment at home.
One stop from Lewisham
Our office is on Lewisham High Street, and Nunhead station on Gibbon Road is on the line that runs from Lewisham through to Peckham Rye and Victoria. The train takes about five minutes, which makes Nunhead the easiest part of Southwark for us to reach. We still have to match a carer to your times, so we will tell you at the first call whether we can cover an early start or a late evening call.
Around the Green and up the hill
Nunhead is small. Its old village centre is Nunhead Green and the short run of shops along Evelina Road, with Peckham Rye to the west and the boundary with Lewisham and Brockley to the east. Most homes are Victorian and Edwardian terraces, on roads such as Carden Road and Tresco Road, and many have been split into upstairs and downstairs flats. An upstairs flat in a converted terrace usually means a steep staircase, a narrow bathroom and no room for a hoist, so we check those first. The rest is council estates and low-rise blocks, where the questions are lifts, door entry and key safes. There are also two sets of almshouses: Beeston's Gift on Consort Road, built in 1834 by the Girdlers' Company, and the 1853 almshouses on Nunhead Green.
The ground rises towards the cemetery along Linden Grove. For someone with a walking frame, that slope decides which bus stop or shop is realistic, and we plan outings around it.
The cemetery is the local park. Nunhead Cemetery opened in 1840 and is one of London's "Magnificent Seven" Victorian cemeteries, 52 acres of woodland with views to St Paul's from the top. It opens daily from 8.30am, with gates on Linden Grove and Limesford Road, and the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery run free tours. A companionship visit can include a slow walk in through the Linden Grove gate.
Buses, the station and parking
Two bus routes do most of the work. The P12 runs along Linden Grove to Nunhead station, then on to Honor Oak Park one way and through Peckham Rye to Surrey Quays the other. The 78 ends at St Mary's Road and runs back through Peckham Rye and Tower Bridge to Shoreditch. From the station, Southeastern and Thameslink trains run to Lewisham, Victoria, Blackfriars and Catford.
Parking depends on your street. Southwark issues home care worker permits only to agencies on its contracted list, so if your road is in a controlled parking zone, ask us how your carer will travel. A family member who looks after you can apply for the council's resident informal carer permit with a letter from your GP. It covers on-street zones only, and council estates have their own carer permit.
How do I get council help with home care in Nunhead?
Nunhead is in Southwark, so you contact Southwark Adult Social Care. For older people and adults with physical disabilities, that means the OPPD team: use the council's referral page or call 020 7525 3324, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Council-arranged care is means-tested, and NHS Continuing Healthcare is assessed separately. If you pay privately, we give you a quote after the home assessment. Our Southwark home care page covers direct payments and borough-wide support.
King's, Lewisham and the first days home
Depending on which side of Nunhead you live, a hospital stay could be at King's College Hospital on Denmark Hill or at University Hospital Lewisham, which is closer for some addresses. The hospital team plans the discharge, and Southwark's reablement service may give short-term support at home, usually free for a few weeks. If you want carers in place from the first day, call us as soon as a date is discussed (see hospital discharge support). Age UK Lewisham and Southwark also offers home-from-hospital help with shopping and prescriptions.
When visits are not enough
Live-in care needs a spare bedroom for the carer. That is easier in a whole terraced house than in a one-bedroom conversion, so we ask about the layout early. It can support a couple in the same home.
If a husband, wife or daughter does most of the caring, respite care gives them a break: a few afternoon sit-ins, or a carer living in for a fortnight. A Southwark carer's assessment can also lead to funded short breaks.
Our services in Nunhead
- Personal care
- Medication support
- Home help
- Companionship
- Sit-in service
- Live-in care
- Respite care
- Dementia care
- Complex care
- Palliative care
- Hospital discharge
- Nail care
What we can help with in Nunhead
- 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 Southwark
Home care pages for other parts of Southwark:
Our services
How we can help in Southwark
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Visiting care in Southwark
Regular visits for personal care, medication, meals and company.
Read more →Live-in care in Southwark
A carer who lives in, for one person or a couple.
Read more →Respite care in Southwark
Cover so a family carer can rest, recover or go away.
Read more →Supported living in Southwark
Our homes in Whitton, Kingston and Uxbridge.
Read more →Nunhead FAQs
Nunhead questions
Questions families ask us about Nunhead. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionSome Nunhead addresses are SE4. Which council do I contact?
Will you work with The Nunhead Surgery?
Yes. The Nunhead Surgery is at 58 Nunhead Grove, SE15 3LY, a short walk from the Green. If a GP or pharmacist changes a prescription, we update the medication record and the carers' instructions before the next visit.
Can a carer take my father to Evelina Road for his shopping?
Yes. Escorted shopping, a stop at the Green and the walk home can all go in the care plan, along with help putting things away.
My mother lives in an upstairs flat in a converted terrace. Can she stay there?
Often, yes. In an upstairs conversion the bathroom is often at the top of the stairs, so we check whether she can reach it safely at night and whether a commode or a second banister would help, and we suggest a council occupational therapy referral for anything that needs fitting.
Is a morning visit easier to staff in Nunhead than elsewhere in Southwark?
It is closer to us than most of the borough, which helps, but it still depends on which carers are free. Tell us the times you need and we will say plainly whether we can cover them.
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Looking for care in Nunhead?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.