Home Care in Heavitree
Do you need home care in Heavitree for a parent in one of the terraces?
One independent carer, minutes from the hospital, who you meet before anything is agreed
Heavitree is old Exeter. Streets of red-stone Victorian terraces, a proper high street on Fore Street, a park in the middle and the county hospital at one end. A great many people have lived here their whole adult lives, and the houses they live in were built for younger legs. Home care here is about staying in those houses, safely, with help from one person who knows them.
Free visit, no obligation, and an honest answer about whether I am the right fit.
- Enhanced DBS checked
- Fully insured
- Free home visit
- Same carer, every visit
Home care in Heavitree, and what the area is like
Heavitree lies just east of the city centre, up the hill from St Leonard's and down the road from Wonford and Whipton. It was a village in its own right until it was taken into the city in 1913, and it gave its name to the red stone that so much of old Exeter is built from. The Heavitree that people live in today is mostly Victorian and Edwardian. Long streets of terraced houses running off Fore Street and Polsloe Road, a big church, a park, and at the bottom of the hill the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital at Wonford.
People in Heavitree have usually been here a long time. A widow in the terrace she and her husband bought in the sixties. A retired couple where one has started to need more help than the other can give. Someone just home from the hospital down the road who needs a hand for a few weeks while they get their strength back.
The terraces
A Heavitree terrace is a particular sort of house. Two rooms deep, three floors in some cases, a staircase that is steep and straight, and a bathroom that was added at the back or upstairs long after the house was built. They are warm, solid and much loved. They are also hard work for somebody who is no longer steady. A great deal of home care in a Heavitree terrace is about the stairs. Taking them slowly and safely. Knowing which days the bathroom is possible and which days a wash downstairs is the sensible answer. Talking honestly with the family about whether a bed downstairs, a stairlift or a rail would make the difference.
Living next to the hospital
Having the RD&E at the bottom of the hill changes what home care in Heavitree looks like. Many families arranging care in Heavitree will be ringing from the ward. Mum is going home on Friday, she lives on her own in a terrace off Fore Street, and nobody is sure how the first fortnight is going to work. I can come to the house before she is discharged, work out what is needed, and be there when she arrives. And afterwards, when there are follow-up appointments, blood tests and prescriptions, the hospital is minutes away and I will drive, park and wait.
Fore Street and the park
Heavitree is one of the few parts of the city where a high street still does everything. Chemist, bakery, greengrocer, cafes, and a post office counter that does the banking now the branch has gone. For someone who used to walk down every morning, walking down again with company and a hand on the arm is worth far more than a delivery. The Pleasure Ground, with its flat paths, benches and cafe, is close enough for a twenty minute outing on any dry day.
What I do not do
I work alone, and in a Heavitree terrace that has one particular consequence. If somebody needs two people to get safely up and down those stairs, I am not the right answer, and I will say so at the first call. I do not offer overnight or live-in care. I am not a nurse, so dressings, injections and clinical care come from the district nurses, and I work around their visits rather than replacing them.
What I can help with in Heavitree
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Home Care
Help at home with the things that have become hard, from one carer you know.
About home care -
Visiting Care
Regular visits, morning, midday, afternoon or evening, that last as long as they need to.
About visiting care -
After Hospital Care
Support for the first few weeks back at home after a stay in hospital.
About after hospital care -
Long Term Care
An ongoing arrangement that changes as needs change, with the same face throughout.
About long term care -
Domiciliary Care
What the term means, how it works with a direct payment, and how I differ from an agency.
About domiciliary care -
Personal Care
Washing, dressing and continence support, done with patience and privacy.
About personal care
Why an independent carer works well in Heavitree
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Next to the hospital
The Royal Devon and Exeter at Wonford is on the doorstep. Follow-up appointments, blood tests and the pharmacy are minutes away, and I will take you.
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Terraces with stairs
Heavitree is largely Victorian terraces, tall and narrow with the bathroom upstairs. Helping someone up and down those stairs safely is a large part of what home care in Heavitree involves.
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Everything on Fore Street
Chemist, post office, bakery, greengrocer and cafes. A visit can include the shopping, on foot, the way it has always been done.
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Parking planned for
Residents-only streets and tight terraces mean I plan where to park before I arrive. It is built into the visit, not taken out of it.
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The park at the end of the road
Heavitree Pleasure Ground has level paths, benches and a cafe. Getting out for twenty minutes is easy and worth doing.
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All close together
Heavitree, Wonford, Whipton, Polsloe and St Leonard’s are all near each other, which keeps every visit full length and on time.
How care in Heavitree gets started
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Step 1: A phone call
Tell me what is going on. No script and no sales pitch. If it is not something I can safely take on, I will say so on that call.
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Step 2: A visit, free of charge
I come to you. We sit down, talk through what would actually help, and you decide whether I am the right fit. No charge and no obligation.
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Step 3: A written agreement
Days, times, what I will do and what it costs, in plain English. Yours to keep, and nothing in it changes without asking you first.
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Step 4: We start
Same carer, every visit. After a few weeks I know the routine, the neighbours, and which mug is the right one.
Getting out and about in Heavitree
Not being indoors all day is one of the things families ask for most, and one of the first things a rushed visit drops. These are the sort of places a visit in Heavitree might include, depending on the weather and how someone is feeling that day.
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Heavitree Pleasure Ground
The park in the middle of Heavitree, with flat paths, plenty of benches, flower beds and a cafe. The easiest outing in the area for somebody who does not want to go far.
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Fore Street
A high street that still works as one. Chemist, bakery, greengrocer and cafes within a few hundred yards of most front doors, and a bench outside the church to catch your breath.
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Ludwell Valley Park
The green valley on the far side of Wonford, reachable in a few minutes by car. Open grassland sloping down to the brook, with benches along the top path and the whole city laid out below.
Where Heavitree sits
Heavitree is EX1. The map shows the area rather than an office, because there is no office. I come to you.
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Or open Heavitree in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)What it costs
Hourly rate
£20 to £40 per hour
Where in that range depends on what is needed. I give you one fixed figure at the free first visit, in writing, before anything is agreed.
- The rate is all in. Mileage is included, there is no VAT to add, and there is no registration fee or charge for the first visit.
- Minimum visit one hour. Usual minimum term three months, paid in advance, open for discussion at the first visit.
- A visit I miss, or cannot complete because I am ill, is not charged. The time is carried over to another visit or refunded, whichever you prefer.
- A visit you cancel with 48 hours notice is carried over. With less notice it is charged.
- 14 days to change your mind after signing the agreement. Visits you asked me in writing to start in that time are paid for.
- Two weeks notice to end the arrangement, from either of us. If it ends early you pay for the visits made and the notice period, and the rest is returned.
Questions from families in Heavitree
Which parts of Heavitree do you cover?
All of it. The terraces either side of Fore Street, the streets off Heavitree Road and Polsloe Road, the area around the hospital at Wonford, and out towards Whipton. Heavitree is EX1 and EX2, and it is right at the centre of my patch.
Do you cover Wonford, Whipton, Polsloe and St Leonard’s?
Yes to all four. They are next door to Heavitree and next door to each other, which is how I like visits to be arranged.
My mother is coming out of the RD&E and lives in Heavitree. Can you help with the first few weeks?
Yes. Ring me while she is still on the ward. I can visit the house before she is home, agree the first week of visits, and be there when she arrives. My usual minimum term is three months, but a shorter arrangement after a hospital stay is something we can talk about at the first visit.
Can you help someone manage a terraced house with the bathroom upstairs?
Very often. The upstairs bathroom is the usual sticking point in a Heavitree terrace, and at the free first visit I will look at whether a rail, a different routine, or a wash downstairs on the bad days would solve it. If a move needs two people, I will say so rather than attempt it alone.
Care at home in Heavitree
Tell me what is going on. Whether it is a discharge date, a fall or simply a slow decline, I will tell you honestly whether I can help.