Home Care in West Hampstead, NW6

We provide home care in West Hampstead, from short daily visits to a carer who lives in. Visiting care depends on whether a carer is free to cover your times, so we confirm that before we agree anything. Live-in care is available across NW6. It all starts with a free home assessment and a written care plan.

Is West Hampstead too far from Lewisham for visiting care?

It is further than our home ground, but it is one of the easier parts of north-west London for us to reach. Some Thameslink trains run direct from London Bridge to West Hampstead Thameslink, and the Jubilee line runs there from London Bridge too, so a carer coming from Lewisham can make the journey with one change. West Hampstead's three stations sit within a few minutes' walk of each other on West End Lane, the third being on the Overground Mildmay line. That makes regular visits more realistic here than in parts of Hampstead up the hill. It does not guarantee a carer for every time slot, so we tell you what we can cover before you commit. Where visits can't be covered, live-in care usually can.

On the street, the 139, 328 and C11 buses run along West End Lane by the stations. Parking across West Hampstead is controlled, so carers travel by train and bus.

Mansion flats off West End Lane

West Hampstead's housing is mostly Edwardian. Long red-brick mansion blocks and tall terraces line the side streets around Broadhurst Gardens, Compayne Gardens and the roads off Mill Lane. Nearly all of the terraces were converted into flats long ago. The population is younger than in much of Camden, but plenty of older people have lived in the same mansion flat, or the same council flat towards Fortune Green and the Kilburn edge, for many years.

The practical problem is stairs. Many mansion blocks were built without lifts, so a third-floor flat means several flights of stairs. When those stairs become too much, a person can be stuck indoors for weeks at a time. Part of our work here is simply getting someone out: down the stairs with a carer, along West End Lane to the shops or a cafe, and back. That is companionship as much as care, and it matters.

Starting with Camden Adult Social Care

West Hampstead is in the London Borough of Camden. To ask for a needs assessment, use Camden's adult social care referral form or call Contact Camden on 020 7974 4444 (weekdays, 9am to 5pm). Both the needs assessment and the financial assessment are free. The outcome tells you whether the council will fund care, contribute to it or leave you to arrange it yourself. If you arrange it yourself, we give you a written quote after our assessment. Our Camden home care page explains more about the borough, and paying for care in London covers the means test and NHS funding.

For GP-led referrals, such as a memory assessment, community nursing or equipment, the GP is the starting point. West Hampstead Medical Centre is at 9 Solent Road, NW6, just off West End Lane.

When the family carer needs a break

Many older people in West Hampstead are cared for by a spouse in the same flat. If that is your situation, ask Camden for a carer's assessment, which is the council's way of looking at your needs as a carer. Camden Carers offers advice and carers' groups, including support for older carers and people caring for someone with dementia. For practical cover, our respite care can be a weekly sit-in so you can get out, or a carer living in for a week or two.

Live-in care in a mansion flat

A live-in carer needs their own bedroom, so a two-bedroom flat is usually the minimum. Live-in care also suits couples, and it suits people living with dementia, who are often better off staying in a home they know. Age UK Camden's dementia wellbeing and befriending services can add support outside the home.

What we can help with in West Hampstead

• 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