Arranging care in the London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark stretches from the riverside at Borough and Bermondsey down through Camberwell and Peckham to the leafier streets of Dulwich. Families looking to arrange care for an older relative in any of these neighbourhoods can begin with Southwark Council's adult social care team, which is the first point of contact for advice, assessments and support planning across the borough.
The starting point is a free needs assessment carried out by Southwark's adult social care service. A social worker or assessor will look at how your relative manages day to day, whether that is at home in a Peckham flat or a family house in Dulwich, and what support would help. If care is needed, a financial assessment follows to work out how much the London Borough of Southwark will contribute. This considers income, savings and, for permanent placements in residential care homes or nursing homes, the value of property, subject to national capital thresholds and disregards.
Local care choices and typical costs
Southwark has a busy care market, with around 76 CQC-registered care homes serving the borough and surrounding areas. That gives families a reasonable choice between smaller residential care homes in quieter pockets like Dulwich and larger nursing homes closer to Camberwell and Bermondsey, as well as home care agencies covering the whole borough.
Funding usually comes from one or a mix of routes: local authority funding after a means test, NHS Continuing Healthcare where needs are primarily health related, NHS-funded Nursing Care contributions in nursing homes, or self funding. As a general guide for inner London, home care visits tend to sit at roughly £25 to £32 an hour, residential care homes commonly range from around £1,200 to £1,600 a week, and nursing homes are typically £1,400 to £1,900 a week depending on the setting and level of need.
If you are just starting out, it often helps to request the needs assessment early, even before a crisis, so you have time to compare providers across Southwark and understand what support the council can offer.
