Who are the carers?

We are very proud of our live-in carers, many of them have been with Helping Hands for a very long time.

We maintain a strong, consistent base of live-in care staff sourced mostly from the UK, South Africa and Poland. Our carers come from a wide variety of backgrounds and range in age from 18 to 70. We have female and male carers available many of whom are drivers. Carers are subject to criminal records bureau checks in the UK as well as checked against the POVA
( Protection of Vulnerable Adults ) List.  Before any care commences you will be able to see a selection of carer profiles to help you with your decision.

Continuity of Care

Helping Hands make every effort to maintain continuity of care for each service user providing the service is working well.

Helping Hands guarantees to provide cover either in the case of illness or holiday so that the client is not left alone for a period of time. Holiday is always pre booked in advance with the Live-in care manager, so that an appropriate replacement carer can be sourced and a lengthy face to face handover be arranged. This way a better understanding of the care needs can be imparted.

Training

Our live in carers undergo a 4 day training course at our Alcester Head Office and then spend time shadowing an experienced live in carer in a service user's home. The training covers topics such as Manual Handling, Food Hygiene and First Aid.

In respond to the demand for suitably qualified and experienced carers, Helping Hands have set up their own training company, Training Matters, to manage and deliver the process internally. Thus we now have the resources to generate training specific to the needs of the service user.

We are currently developing three levels of specialist training depending on the complexity of condition and level of care that is involved .Our current service accommodates a number of specific needs, ranging from Motor Neurone disease and Multiple Sclerosis through to the terminally ill. We constantly strive to explore specialist training needs and as such have staff that have completed the Learning Disability qualification (LDAF). Where necessary we have invited Specialists in to train our staff (for example, the MS Society).

All of this work meets and in some cases exceeds, the requirements set out in the Minimum Care Standards.

Monitoring of Care

All live-in cases are supervised by our own R.G.N and a Senior Manager. We offer full 24 hour, 7 days a week emergency back up and cover. This is on our main office number 0808 180 9488. This is for both clients and carers alike. Carers are fully briefed on the nature of care each client requires before they take up any assignment. We also allow for a face to face changeover period for the incoming and outgoing carers so that carers are familiar with their clients specific needs. Where appropriate, this may be for up to 24 hours in advance of the changeover.

Because Helping Hands directly employs all of its carers, the company assumes all of the employment responsibilities, including regular supervisions and annual appraisals. Helping Hands completes four supervisions a year, ensuring that the carer’s training is up to date. Periodically a client is asked to complete a carer feedback form rating their carer’s performance. We also undertake a regular inhouse survey.

Both carers and service users are assessed regularly throughout the year by a Live In Care Manager or Helping Hands Assessor.