Home Care in Stepney

Yes, we provide home care in Stepney. Carers travel from our Lewisham office on the DLR, which takes roughly half an hour, and visit people in their own homes for washing and dressing, medication, meals and company. It starts with a free assessment at home and a written care plan, and we will tell you honestly whether we have a carer free for the times you need.

Old Stepney and the estates that replaced it

St Dunstan's, the "Mother Church of the East End", has stood at the centre of Stepney for around a thousand years, but very little of the parish around it is old. The Blitz destroyed more than a third of the housing here, and slum clearance in the 1960s replaced most of what was left with tower blocks and low-rise council estates. Pockets of Georgian and Victorian terraces survive: on the eastern side of Stepney Green itself, around Arbour Square and in the streets near Matlock Street. The Stepney Green conservation area, designated in 1973, protects some of them.

So a care plan in Stepney usually starts with one of two buildings. In an estate flat, the questions are the lift, the door entry system, where a key safe can go and whether a walk-in shower is realistic in a small bathroom. In one of the old terraced houses, it is the stairs: narrow, steep and often the reason someone has stopped going up to bed. We look at both at the assessment, and bring in the council's occupational therapists where equipment or adaptations would help.

How carers get to Stepney

Stepney sits between Whitechapel and Limehouse, and it is well served. Stepney Green station on Mile End Road has the District and Hammersmith & City lines. Limehouse station, which was called Stepney East until 1987, has the DLR and c2c trains to Fenchurch Street. Buses 25 and 205 run along Mile End Road, the 15, 115 and 135 along Commercial Road, and the 309 and 339 through the streets around Harford Street and St Dunstan's. From Lewisham, the DLR to Limehouse is direct, so morning and evening calls are practical, subject to carer availability.

How do I get a council care assessment in Stepney?

Stepney is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and the council's front door for adult social care is Tower Hamlets Connect. You can fill in the online self-assessment form, which the council says is the quickest route, or call 0300 303 6070 on weekdays from 9am to 5pm. TH Connect then refers on for a Care Act assessment by a social worker or occupational therapist, and may offer short-term reablement first.

If the person is eligible, they get a support plan and a personal budget. That budget can be taken as a direct payment and used to pay an agency the family chooses, including us. Our Tower Hamlets home care page covers the borough-wide picture, including how the council charges for care. If you would sooner arrange care privately, we quote in writing after the free assessment, never before.

Live-in care and short breaks

A live-in carer needs their own bedroom. In a terraced house near Stepney Green that is often easy to find; in a two-bedroom estate flat it depends on who else lives there. Where it works, live-in care covers nights and can support a couple together.

For a son, daughter or partner doing most of the caring, respite care can be a regular afternoon off, extra visits for a week, or a live-in carer while you go away. Ask the council for a carer's needs assessment, which can lead to carers' direct payments for short breaks.

What we arrange in Stepney

• Personal care
• Medication support
• Home help
• Companionship
• Dementia care
• Live-in care
• Respite care
• Nail care

What we can help with in Stepney

• 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