Home Care in Southfields, SW18 and SW19

Yes, we can provide home care in Southfields. A live-in carer can move in wherever you are in SW18 or SW19; visiting care depends on having a carer within reach at the right times, which we confirm before agreeing to it. A free home assessment comes first.

Living on the Grid

The heart of Southfields is the Grid, a block of parallel streets laid out for the Wimbledon Park Land Company. The London County Council approved the first nine roads, including Replingham Road, in 1891, and the building carried on until about 1906, by which time there were some 1,766 houses, maisonettes and shops. The result is street after street of Edwardian terraces, with interwar and purpose-built flats around the edges.

Two things about the Grid shape care here. First, the roads are hilly, running up from the Wimbledon Park end, so a walk to the shops on Replingham Road that was easy ten years ago can become the reason someone stops going out. Second, many of the homes were built as, or later divided into, maisonettes: a flat on the ground floor and another above, with the upper one reached by its own stairs. If the person needing care lives upstairs, the stairs inside the front door are often the biggest daily obstacle, and we plan around them from the first visit.

Can Wandsworth Council pay for home care in Southfields?

It may. Southfields is in the London Borough of Wandsworth, even where the postcode says SW19. The council first assesses whether the person has eligible care needs, and then carries out a financial assessment, a means test, to work out how much they contribute. Ask for an assessment through Wandsworth's adult social care referral form or by calling the Access Team on 020 8871 7707, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Where someone's needs are mainly health needs, for example after a serious illness or towards the end of life, NHS Continuing Healthcare may cover the cost instead; the GP or hospital team can start that screening. For private care we quote in writing after the assessment. More on the council steps is on our Wandsworth home care page.

Getting a carer to Southfields

Southfields station is on the Wimbledon branch of the District line, between East Putney and Wimbledon Park. There is no National Rail station; Earlsfield is the nearest. On the roads, the 39 runs between Clapham Junction and Putney Bridge, the 156 between Vauxhall and Wimbledon, and the 493 goes to St George's Hospital in Tooting, which is handy for anyone with regular outpatient appointments there. From our Lewisham office the journey takes about 50 to 60 minutes.

For carers who drive, the Southfields CPZ has two kinds of street. The S1 subzone, and Replingham Road in S2, are controlled 9.30am to 4.30pm on weekdays, with a four-hour maximum stay. The rest of S2 and subzones S3 to S5 are controlled for just one hour in the early afternoon (1.30pm to 2.30pm, or 2pm to 3pm in S5). In a one-hour zone a resident permit holder can request ten free one-hour visitor permits a year, which may cover an occasional visit. The council's Southfields parking zones page has the map.

Health care close to home

Southfields Group Practice on Merton Road is one of the NHS surgeries serving the area; its details are on the NHS website. People with dementia and their families can also use the support Wandsworth lists, including the dementia cafes run by Wandsworth Carers' Centre; the Sunflower Cafe meets in neighbouring Putney. Our dementia care at home keeps to familiar routines, faces and rooms.

Live-in care and short breaks

An Edwardian terrace with a box room or third bedroom can usually take a live-in carer, who has their own room and daily breaks. Maisonettes are tighter, and we will say honestly if there is no space. The same live-in service, booked for a week or a fortnight, gives a family carer a proper rest. Wandsworth Carers' Centre's respite service is another route, and the council can carry out a carer's assessment for the person who does the caring. See respite care.

Care available in Southfields

• Live-in care
• Dementia care
• Personal care
• Companionship
• Sit-in service
• Medication support
• Home help
• Respite care
• Hospital discharge
• Palliative care
• Complex care

What we can help with in Southfields

• 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