Home Care in Victoria

Home care is available from us in Victoria, covering the residential streets of SW1P, SW1E and SW1H between Victoria Street, Vauxhall Bridge Road and Millbank. It's one of the more practical parts of Westminster for our carers to reach, so regular visits are realistic here, subject to carer availability for your times. Care starts with a free home assessment by Jackie, our registered manager, and a written plan.

The Victoria that people live in

Most visitors see the station, the offices and the new towers on Victoria Street. Behind them is one of central London's oldest residential quarters, with an unusual amount of charitable and council housing. The Vincent Square ward had the highest share of households in purpose-built flats of any Westminster ward in 2021, 91%, and only 3% lived in a whole house. Across Vincent Square and St James's wards there were 2,616 residents aged 65 or over, and in 1,066 households an older person lived alone. St James's ward had the lowest rate of car ownership in the borough: three households in four had no car.

The housing was built in waves:

• Peabody's Abbey Orchard estate, 1882, on Old Pye Street and Abbey Orchard Street: six-storey Victorian blocks around courtyards.
• Ashley Gardens and Morpeth Terrace, red-brick mansion flats of the early 1890s beside Westminster Cathedral.
• The Millbank Estate, the London County Council's red-brick blocks behind Tate Britain, named after British artists.
• The Page Street estate, Lutyens's chequerboard blocks of the late 1920s on Page Street and Vincent Street.

These buildings have lasted well, but they were built for people who could climb stairs. Lifts vary from block to block, and staircases in Victorian walk-ups are tight for a carer helping someone down, let alone for a wheelchair or a hospital bed. We look at all of this at the assessment, and Westminster's occupational therapists can advise on rails, bath boards and other equipment.

How carers get to SW1P

At 8am, TfL's planner puts Vincent Square at about 52 to 53 minutes from our Lewisham office, either by train to London Bridge, the Jubilee line to Westminster and one stop on the District line to St James's Park, or by train and bus via Vauxhall. The 185 bus runs from Lewisham station to Rochester Row and Victoria. Pimlico station, on the Victoria line, is a short walk from the Millbank Estate.

Victoria is in Westminster's parking zone D and inside the Congestion Charge zone, and the council runs no on-street visitor permits, so our carers come by public transport. Estate car parks have their own permit rules.

Local places that keep a week going

• The Abbey Centre, 34 Great Smith Street, is open on weekdays and Saturdays, with coffee mornings, Tai Chi, community meals and activities for over-50s, and the Wash House Cafe (020 7222 0303).
• In-Deep Community Task Force at Grosvenor Hall, Vincent Street, runs activities and services for older people in south Westminster (020 7834 5204).
• Strutton Ground, the narrow street off Victoria Street, has a market the council lists as trading Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. For someone who has always shopped there, a carer's arm keeps the habit going.
• Westminster Cathedral and St James's Park are close for an outing.

What we do on a visit

Each visit follows the written plan. That might be help getting up, washing and dressing, a shower, medication prompts, breakfast and the washing-up, or an evening call to help someone undress and settle. Some people want company and an outing: a walk round St James's Park, a coffee at the Abbey Centre, Mass at the cathedral. We also provide dementia care, and for an older person in a flat on their own, we help the family set up a routine that works around the stairs.

Home from St Thomas'

Victoria's nearest A&E is St Thomas' Hospital, across Lambeth Bridge or Westminster Bridge. The 148 bus links it directly with Parliament Square, Great Smith Street and Victoria. Ask the ward whether Westminster's Community Independence Service will be providing free help for the first weeks, and ring us as soon as discharge is mentioned if more will be needed. See our discharge page.

The Westminster Older People Community Mental Health Team and the South Westminster Community Mental Health Hub are at 190 Vauxhall Bridge Road, on the edge of this neighbourhood.

Can Westminster Council pay?

Possibly. Westminster Adult Social Care decides through a needs assessment, then a financial assessment of income and savings. Ask through the council's referral form or on 020 7641 2500. If care is funded, a direct payment lets you choose your own agency. If the person's needs are mainly health needs, NHS Continuing Healthcare may apply. We don't quote on the phone; our price follows the assessment, in writing. If the flat has a spare bedroom and visits aren't enough, live-in care in Victoria is an option.

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