Home Care in Tufnell Park

High Barnet trains on the Northern line run from London Bridge to Tufnell Park without a change, which is why this corner of north London is more workable for our visiting carers than its distance suggests. Whether we can cover your 8am or your 9pm is the question to ask, and we answer it before you sign anything. A carer who lives in can be arranged on any street from Brecknock Road to Junction Road. Jackie comes round first, meets your relative and writes the plan with you.

Islington or Camden? Check before you call the council

Tufnell Park sits on the boundary. Most of it, including the station, Tufnell Park Road, Hilldrop Crescent and the streets towards Holloway, is in Islington, split between the council's Tufnell Park and Junction wards. The western edge, in NW5 towards Kentish Town and Dartmouth Park, is in Camden. The postcode alone won't always tell you, so look at the council tax bill.

• Islington side: the online request, or the council's Front Door by phone. The full route is on our Islington page.
• Camden: use the Camden referral form or call 020 7974 4444. See our Camden home care page.

Tufnell Park ward at the census

Islington's Tufnell Park ward had 12,401 residents in 2021, 1,337 of them 65 or over, close to 11%. Ownership is higher than in most of the borough, at 32% of households, and 37% rent socially. In 478 homes, the only occupant was 66 or older. Put together, it is a neighbourhood of older people who have often lived in the same converted flat or house for a long time, many of them on their own, with the Whittington a short ride away.

Big Victorian houses, mostly in flats

Tufnell Park was built as a suburb of solid Victorian houses, and streets such as Tufnell Park Road, Carleton Road and Anson Road still look the part. Nearly all of those houses are now divided into flats, which means a shared front door, a long staircase and a bathroom that may be up or down a half-landing. Around Hilldrop Crescent there is the Hilldrop Estate, built in the late 1940s and now owned by Islington Council, and other council and housing association blocks are dotted through the area.

For care, that means checking three things: whether your relative can manage the stairs alone, whether the bath is still safe or a shower is needed, and whether there is room for any equipment. Islington's occupational therapy assessments are requested through the same council form.

A typical day of care

Picture three calls. Around eight, a wash, clean clothes and breakfast. At one, tablets from the blister pack with medication support, and soup heated through. Early evening, supper, a change into nightclothes and the curtains drawn. Some families add a weekly companionship afternoon on top: the playing fields if it is fine, the Fortess Road cafés if it is not.

Health services close by. The Junction Medical Practice is at 244 Tufnell Park Road, N19 5EW. Up the road at Archway, the Whittington is where most Tufnell Park patients are admitted and sent home from. Ring us as soon as the ward starts talking about a date.

Getting here, and parking

Tufnell Park station, at the junction of Fortess Road, Brecknock Road and Tufnell Park Road, is on the Northern line's High Barnet branch. Buses 4, 134 and 390 serve the area, and Upper Holloway on the Overground and Kentish Town on Thameslink are both within walking distance. Kerbside spaces on the Islington side sit in controlled zones, so a visitor needs a voucher or a pay bay; our staff use the Northern line and the 4, 134 or 390. An Islington resident over 60 is entitled to cheaper visitor vouchers.

Sheltered housing on Hilldrop Road

Islington's sheltered housing list includes Cutbush House at 57 Hilldrop Road, N7, run by Clarion, a few minutes from Tufnell Park station. Islington residents of 55 and up can apply through the housing register (020 7527 4140); on the Camden side, Camden's housing team handles it.

What will home care in Tufnell Park cost?

Three short calls a day cost less than three long ones, and nights or two-carer calls cost more, so the price follows the plan and comes in writing once Jackie has visited. On the Islington side, council money follows an assessment and a means test, and can come as a direct payment you spend with us; the borough's calculator lets you estimate your share. If the needs are chiefly medical, NHS Continuing Healthcare may cover it.

Live-in care and respite

A spare room opens up a different option, set out on the Tufnell Park live-in page. For family carers, Islington offers a free carer's assessment, and the Islington Carers Hub (020 7281 3319), run by Age UK Islington from Manor Gardens off Holloway Road, helps carers get a break. Respite from us can be regular sitting calls or a carer living in while you are away; see respite care in Islington.

How far we travel to Tufnell Park

Visiting care is realistic in the south and centre of Islington. Archway, Upper Holloway and Finsbury Park are a longer trip, so visits there depend on carer availability.

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