Live-in Care in Holloway

Yes, live-in care is available in Holloway, and it is often the most dependable way to get care in N7. A carer moves in, has their own bedroom, and is on hand through the day for personal care, meals, medication and company, so the journey from our Lewisham office does not affect the care. Jackie, our registered manager, visits for a free assessment first.

Three things we check in a Holloway flat

Most older people in Holloway live in council or housing association flats, on estates or in Victorian terraces split into flats. Before a carer moves in, Jackie looks at three things:

1. A bedroom for the carer. It must be a real bedroom with a door and a window. A sofa bed in the living room does not work, for the carer or for the person they look after.
2. The lift and the stairs. In a tower block, a lift that keeps breaking can leave someone stuck indoors and makes it hard to get a wheelchair, a commode or a hospital bed up. In a converted terrace, the question is the staircase to the flat and the size of the bathroom.
3. The landlord. It is sensible to let the housing officer know a carer will be living in, and the landlord is also who you ask about adaptations, a move to a lower floor, or a level-access shower.

Can live-in care work if the flat has one bedroom?

No, not safely. Many Holloway flats have one bedroom, and we will tell you plainly if that rules live-in care out. The alternatives are visiting care in Holloway (which depends on carer availability this far north), a sit-in service, or asking the council about other housing. Islington's needs assessment can consider options such as extra care sheltered housing, and a council or housing association tenant can ask their landlord whether a transfer to a larger home is possible.

Getting a relief carer into the estate

Changeovers in Holloway are mostly by public transport. Caledonian Road and Holloway Road stations are on the Piccadilly line, one and two stops from King's Cross St Pancras, Upper Holloway is on the Overground Suffragette line, and the buses on Holloway Road run all day. The new carer arrives, the outgoing carer hands over in person, and the written notes stay in the flat.

Parking on an estate follows its own rules. A visitor parking on a council estate must display a visitor permit or voucher from the resident, and some estates have shared-use bays where estate visitor vouchers apply. The council's estate visitor parking page explains how to buy them; you can also phone 020 7527 2000. On Arsenal match days, extra controls cover the streets nearest the Emirates as well.

Manor Gardens, the Nag's Head and the parks

Each day the carer has a set break, written into the plan. In Holloway, the obvious places are close together:

• North Library, on Manor Gardens about 100 metres from Holloway Road. Its opening hours are limited, so check before relying on it.
• Caledonian Park on Market Road, with its clock tower, café and meadows, and Paradise Park on Mackenzie Road.
• The Nag's Head, where Holloway Road meets Seven Sisters Road, for the shops, cafés and market.

The same building on Manor Gardens houses Age UK Islington and the Islington Carers Hub. If you are the son or daughter who has been doing the caring until now, the Hub is where to ask for your own carer's assessment and advice once the live-in carer has settled in.

Home from the Whittington

For N7 the local hospital is the Whittington Hospital in Archway, and some people are treated at University College Hospital or the Royal Free. Two Holloway details are worth settling before the date. If the flat is high up in a block, check the lift is working before hospital transport is booked, and tell the ward if it often fails. And if confusion lingers once your relative is home, ask the GP whether a referral to the Islington Memory Service, on Brewery Road in N7, makes sense; the live-in carer can go with them to appointments. Call us while your relative is still on the ward. Our hospital discharge page sets out what we will need.

Council help with the cost

Holloway residents ask Islington Council for a needs assessment and a means test; our live-in care in Islington page explains direct payments and the funding route in detail. NHS Continuing Healthcare is worth asking about if needs are mainly health needs. Anyone paying privately is quoted in writing after Jackie's visit, and live-in care in London describes how the service works.

What we can help with in Holloway

• A carer living in, with their own room
• Care for one person or a couple
• Personal care through the day
• Medication support
• Cooking, housekeeping and laundry
• Dementia support at home
• Company, outings and appointments
• Cover arranged for the carer's breaks