Home care in Croydon & Bromley
Home from hospital, safely
Hospital-to-home care means a carer is ready for the day you leave hospital, helping with washing, meals, medication and moving around safely, then reablement support to help you do more for yourself again where possible. Good early support at home can make settling back in safer and calmer.
Referring a patient? Information for hospital & discharge teams
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- Carers we employDBS-checked, not agency
Quick answers for families in Croydon and Bromley
How do I arrange care after leaving Croydon University Hospital?
Tell the ward's discharge team that you want care at home, then call us with the expected discharge date. We plan backwards from it and can often have a carer ready for the day you come home. With your permission we coordinate with the discharge team so the plan matches the hospital's instructions.
Is care after a hospital stay free in Croydon or Bromley?
Care after a hospital stay is sometimes free. Council reablement is free for up to six weeks, and in Croydon the ward team can refer you to the LIFE reablement service. Ask the discharge team whether you qualify. If you need more support, or a different pattern of visits, private care with us starts from £26 an hour.
Do you support discharges from the Princess Royal University Hospital?
Yes, we support people coming home to Bromley, Beckenham and Orpington from the Princess Royal University Hospital in Farnborough, as well as Croydon residents leaving Croydon University Hospital. Tell us the discharge date and we will say honestly how soon care can start.
Who is hospital to home care for?
- Patients ready to leave hospital once support at home is in place
- Families told a discharge date is days away and unsure what to do
- Anyone recovering from surgery, a fall or a serious illness
- People who live alone and need a steady presence while they recover
- Anyone whose confidence has taken a knock and needs to rebuild it safely at home
- Families who want the first weeks back home handled calmly, with help close by
What’s included
- Care arranged around your discharge date, including same-week starts
- Settling-in support: home warm, prescriptions in, cupboards stocked
- Personal care, meals and medication while strength returns
- Reablement: practising daily tasks to rebuild real confidence
- Working alongside hospital discharge teams, GPs and therapists
- Visits that step down gradually as you need less help
What hospital to home care looks like day to day
The first days back at home after a hospital stay are often the hardest, and the most important. The house can feel different, energy is low, there are new medicines to keep straight, and simple things like getting to the bathroom or making a meal suddenly take real effort. Hospital-to-home care is built for exactly this stretch. A carer is ready from the day you are discharged, the home is warm and the cupboards stocked before you walk in (the shopping itself is paid for separately), and the early routine is handled gently while your strength returns. From there the emphasis shifts to reablement: rather than doing everything for you, your carer helps you practise the everyday tasks, washing, dressing, cooking, and moving safely, to help you manage them yourself again where possible. It is care designed to step back as your confidence grows, working alongside the discharge team, your GP, and any therapists so everyone is following the same plan.
- Ready from day oneA carer ready from discharge day, so you are not left to manage the first hours alone.
- Settling inThe practical settling-in done for you: home warm, prescriptions collected, cupboards stocked.
- Everyday careHelp with washing, dressing, meals, and medication while your energy is still low.
- ReablementReablement built in: practising daily tasks together so you regain them at your own pace.
- Moving safelyA steadying hand to move safely around the home and rebuild confidence on your feet.
- Joined-up careCoordination with the discharge team, GP, district nurses, and physiotherapists.
- Concerns raised earlyAny concerns raised early with the right professional, with your permission.
- Stepping down gentlyVisits that step down gradually as you need them less, rather than all at once.
We keep you in the picture
Coming out of hospital is unsettling for the whole family, not just the patient, and often the worry is not knowing what to watch for. So keeping everyone informed is built into how we work. Each visit is recorded, and we are quick to raise anything that seems off, a wound that looks different, less appetite, more confusion, or a medicine causing trouble, with the GP or district nurse rather than leaving the family to spot it. With your permission we stay joined up with the discharge team and therapists, so nobody has to relay messages between services or repeat the same story. New or changed medicines are a common source of confusion in the first week home, so we keep a clear record at every visit and flag anything that seems to be causing side effects or clashing, so a quick call to the GP or pharmacy can put it right before it turns into a setback. And because reablement is meant to reduce over time, we review honestly and often: if visits can safely come down, we say so, and if a bit more help is needed for a while, we arrange it. The aim throughout is a safe, settled recovery at your own pace, with people who know the situation only a phone call away.
The same familiar faces
Continuity matters especially after a hospital stay, when the energy for explaining yourself is in short supply. We keep your team small and consistent, employ every carer directly, and tell you in advance who is coming, so you are not meeting a rota of strangers at an already tiring time. Every carer is DBS-checked and trained, and your care plan is written around the discharge instructions and reviewed as you improve. If needs turn out to be greater than expected, or a short reablement package needs to become ongoing support, the same team carries on, with no gap and no starting again. And there is always an office to reach during the day and an on-call line out of hours, because the first weeks home are exactly when a reassuring voice matters most.
Coming home from hospital in Croydon and Bromley
In Croydon
Croydon University Hospital, at 530 London Road and run by Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, is about three miles by road from our office. Before discharge, the ward may refer you to LIFE (Living Independently For Everyone), the reablement service the trust runs with Croydon Council's reablement team. If you need more help than that, or want care in place for the day you get home, tell the ward you have arranged private care and call us with the date.
Croydon Health Services: leaving hospital
The hospital trust's own guide to being discharged from Croydon University Hospital.
LIFE: Living Independently For Everyone
Croydon's reablement service after a hospital stay, run with the council; referrals come from ward or A&E staff.
Croydon Council: ask for a care needs assessment
The free assessment that decides what support the council can arrange or fund for a Croydon resident.
In Bromley
The Princess Royal University Hospital, on Farnborough Common and run by King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, is the main hospital for Bromley borough, about nine miles by road from our office. Ask the ward's discharge team about short-term reablement or community support before you leave, and tell them if you have arranged private care. District nursing in Bromley is provided by Bromley Healthcare, usually on referral from the GP or hospital.
King's College Hospital: when you leave hospital
The trust's guide to discharge, which covers patients at the Princess Royal University Hospital.
Bromley Healthcare: district nursing
Community nursing at home in Bromley for people who are housebound, usually by GP or hospital referral.
Bromley Council: getting social care support
How to ask Bromley Council for a care assessment, by phone, email or the online form.
How care begins
Call us
A friendly chat about what would help, no scripts, no pressure.
Free home visit
We meet you at home, listen properly and shape a plan together.
Care begins
We tell you who your carers will be, and care often starts within days.
Inspected and rated by the Care Quality Commission
The CQC is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. They inspected us across five areas, and rated us “Good” in every one, our current published rating.
- Safe
- Effective
- Caring
- Responsive
- Well-led
Fabulous Homecare Ltd
“The team have been looking after my dad following his discharge from hospital. The care, kindness and professionalism of the team has been superb.”
Hospital to home: common questions
How quickly can care start after discharge?
Fast. Tell us the discharge date and we plan backwards from it. We can often have a carer ready the day someone comes home, including at short notice when the hospital moves quickly.
What does hospital-to-home care cost?
From £26 an hour, free home visit included. After some hospital stays the NHS or council funds short-term reablement care. It is always worth asking the discharge team, and our funding guide explains the routes.
What is reablement, exactly?
Care that aims to work itself out of a job: instead of doing everything for you, our carers help you practise washing, dressing, cooking and moving safely, so you can do more for yourself where possible. Visits can then reduce as your confidence grows.
Can a hospital discharge team refer to you directly?
Yes, discharge coordinators, ward staff and social workers can call 07575 298602 or email a discharge summary to enquiries@fabuloushomecare.co.uk, and no existing arrangement is needed. For a time-critical discharge our phone line is answered day or night.
Do you work with the hospital and GP?
Yes, with your permission we coordinate with discharge teams, district nurses, GPs and physiotherapists so everyone is working to the same recovery plan, and we flag any concerns early.
Related reading
Last reviewed July 2026 · Reviewed by Roseline Fazal Masih, Registered Manager · Registered Nurse
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