Live-in Care in East Greenwich

Small terrace, two bedrooms: enough

Two up, two down is the typical house off Trafalgar Road. Where a third room exists, it can be a quiet sitting room for the carer on their break. A two-bed council flat works too, with a word to the landlord first.

A one-bedroom flat does not work, and at the 2021 Census almost a quarter of homes in the East Greenwich ward had one bedroom. There, visiting care in East Greenwich is the realistic option; the 129 brings our carers from Lewisham in about 23 minutes.

One steep staircase: three plans

The stairs in these terraces are narrow and straight, with the bathroom at the top. We go through three options at the assessment:

• A stairlift. Simple on a straight stair, if there is room at top and bottom to get on and off safely.
• Sleeping downstairs. The parlour turns into a bedroom with a commode; the carer stays upstairs, so a baby monitor or call bell links the two.
• A hoist. In a Victorian back bedroom the wheels need somewhere to go; we measure round the bed before anyone orders one.

The council's occupational therapists assess for equipment; ask when you request a needs assessment.

Changeovers: which side of Maze Hill

A carer with a suitcase usually comes by train. National Rail lists Maze Hill as category B2: some step-free access to all platforms, platforms level with the main entrance, and no lifts. Ask the station for the step-free route before the day. Westcombe Park, to the east, also has only partial step-free access. Five bus routes run along Trafalgar Road.

A carer who drives has two things to plan. The East Greenwich parking zone runs every day, 9am to 6.30pm. And the camera filters and bus gates on roads such as Maze Hill, Vanbrugh Hill and Westcombe Hill, permanent since March 2026 under the council's Neighbourhood Management Scheme, work Monday to Friday through the morning and evening peaks. A midday changeover avoids the filters and the worst traffic.

Breaks by the river and in the Pleasaunce

The carer's daily break is protected, and we agree at the assessment who stays with your relative. Close by: the Thames Path, Greenwich Park at the top of Maze Hill, and East Greenwich Pleasaunce on Chevening Road, a former naval burial ground, now a park with a café. For outings together, the library at the Greenwich Centre on the old hospital site lists lift access and accessible toilets.

The 129 takes under half an hour from Lewisham, so a visit from one of our carers to cover that break may be possible, subject to availability.

Coming home from Lewisham or Woolwich

East Greenwich patients may be treated at University Hospital Lewisham or Queen Elizabeth in Woolwich. Going home to a house with the only bathroom upstairs is where things go wrong in the first week. Our carer can arrive the day before, make up a bed in the front room, and be on the stairs for every trip until the legs come back. Ask the ward too about Royal Greenwich's support after leaving hospital.

For a family carer close by

If you have been doing the caring yourself, Greenwich Carers Centre holds a Monday-morning drop-in at Mycenae House, near Westcombe Park, as well as its base on Hornfair Road in Charlton. It can help you plan for emergencies and ask for your own carer's assessment.

Funding

In the East Greenwich ward 29% of households rent from a social landlord, so plenty of families here have no house to protect. Whatever the tenure, the route is the same: Royal Greenwich's needs assessment, then its means test. The Greenwich live-in care page goes through it. Jackie's written figure comes after she has seen the terrace or flat.

How live-in care works →