Homerton · Hackney
Live-in Care in Homerton
A carer who moves into the spare room of an E9 flat, so that coming home from the hospital on Homerton Row means coming home to someone who is there all day.
Yes, we provide live-in care in Homerton. A trained carer moves into the home with their own bedroom and helps with washing, dressing, meals, medication and getting about, following a written plan that Jackie, our registered manager, or one of her team puts together after a free assessment. The hospital is on the doorstep in Homerton, so this page starts with coming home from a ward.
Going home from the ward with a carer already in place
Homerton University Hospital sits in the middle of the neighbourhood, and it is where most Hackney residents are discharged from. When the ward starts talking about a date, live-in care is worth raising with the ward and the social worker alongside reablement or a temporary care home bed: one person staying in the flat from the first evening, through the first night home, and through the weeks when confidence on the stairs and in the bathroom comes back.
One person also means continuity: a live-in carer learns how someone has changed since going into hospital, notices if they are eating less or more confused, and can tell the GP or the family the same day. Call us while discharge is still being planned, not on the day, and see our hospital discharge page for how the handover works.
Will a live-in carer fit in a Homerton estate flat?
Homerton is mostly council housing: smaller blocks between the High Street and Homerton Road, and bigger estates such as Kingsmead towards the Marshes. Many of these flats were let to families, so a parent living alone in a two- or three-bedroom flat has the spare room a carer needs. It must be a proper bedroom with a door, a window and a bed, not the living room.
In a one-bedroom flat, live-in care will not work, and we will say so at the assessment. The options then are visiting care in Homerton, which is realistic here because the Mildmay line reaches E9, or talking to the council about a move to a larger flat or to one of its Housing with Care schemes. If the tenancy is with Hackney Council or a housing association, let them know that a carer will be living in.
Lifts, landings and a hospital bed
After a hospital stay, equipment often arrives with the patient: a profiling bed, a commode, perhaps a hoist. In an estate flat the question is whether it fits through the front door and down the hallway, and whether the lift is big enough to bring it up. We check the measurements during the assessment and plan the rooms with you, so the bed goes where the carer can reach both sides and the person can still see the window. A hoist is used by trained staff following the plan; if two people are needed to move someone safely, a single live-in carer cannot do it alone, and we will tell you before care starts.
Changeover day in E9. Live-in carers rotate, and the new carer usually arrives by train. A carer can arrive by Overground at Homerton, one stop from Hackney Wick and one from Hackney Central, and buses run straight to the hospital. If anyone arriving needs to park, check the zone: north Homerton is in zone N, controlled from 7.30am on weekdays, and the streets to the south are zone L (South Homerton), controlled weekdays from 8.30am. A resident in a parking zone can buy visitor vouchers in two-hour or all-day books and send e-vouchers to the visitor to activate; over-60s and Blue Badge holders get 24 books a year at half price. Estate car parks use separate estate visitor vouchers.
Where the carer takes their break
A live-in carer has a protected break every day, and in Homerton there are good places to spend it within a few minutes' walk. Homerton Library, on Homerton High Street, has a lift and wheelchair access and is open six days a week. Well Street Common, off Meynell Crescent to the south, has plane and chestnut trees and a community orchard. Further east, Hackney Marshes and Mabley Green run down to the River Lea.
On duty, the carer can take the person to the same places, or to Sutton House, the National Trust's Tudor house on Homerton High Street.
Memory, and the clinic down the road
East London NHS Foundation Trust runs the borough's Diagnostic Memory Clinic from Felstead Street, a short walk from Homerton station; people are referred by their GP. For someone with dementia living near it, a live-in carer can keep appointments, keep a daily routine steady and give the clinic an accurate picture of how things are at home. See our dementia care page.
Paying for it
We quote in writing after the assessment. Hackney Council may pay part of the cost once it has assessed the person's needs and finances. If the main needs after a hospital stay are health needs, ask the discharge team whether NHS Continuing Healthcare has been considered. Our live-in care in Hackney page covers the council route and direct payments, and our London live-in care page explains how live-in care works day to day.
What we can help with in Homerton
- 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
Live-in care elsewhere in Hackney
Live-in care pages for other parts of Hackney:
Our services
How we can help in Hackney
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Visiting care in Hackney
Regular visits for personal care, medication, meals and company.
Read more →Live-in care in Hackney
A carer who lives in, for one person or a couple.
Read more →Respite care in Hackney
Cover so a family carer can rest, recover or go away.
Read more →Supported living in Hackney
Our homes in Whitton, Kingston and Uxbridge.
Read more →Homerton FAQs
Live-in care in Homerton: questions families ask
Questions families ask us about Homerton. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionThe hospital has offered a few weeks of reablement. Can a live-in carer follow straight after?
Yes. If you tell us when reablement is due to end, we can do the assessment while it is still running and plan the start so there is no gap. Tell us early so we can confirm whether we have a carer for that date.
Mum's Kingsmead flat has two bedrooms but the second is full of furniture. Does it count?
It can, once it is cleared enough for a bed, a chest of drawers and somewhere to sit. We look at it during the assessment and tell you what needs to change before a carer can move in.
Dad is waiting for a memory assessment on Felstead Street. Should we wait for a diagnosis before arranging live-in care?
No. Care is planned around what he needs now, not around a diagnosis. The carer can go with him to the appointment and share what they see at home, and we update the care plan if the clinic's advice changes things.
Who looks after Mum while the carer is on their break?
That depends on her needs, and we agree it before care starts. Some people are fine alone for a couple of hours with a phone or alarm in reach. Others need a family member, neighbour or short visit to cover, and that goes in the plan.
Nearby
Other areas near Homerton
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