What is a care assistant?
A care assistant supports customers with personal care, household duties and companionship.
Our local visiting care services support people to live independently in the comfort of their own home. By doing this, you’ll be providing them with an invaluable service that enables them to continue residing in the home they know and love. What’s more, they can live life in the way they choose.
What does a home care assistant do?
Meal preparation
Healthy, nutritious and tasty meals can play a key role in enjoying a better quality of life. Your customers might ask you to cook a full meal for them or just prepare a light bite.
Medication
Customers living with medical conditions may need assistance with medication; we’ll make sure you’re fully trained in helping to adminster it safely and appropriately.
Personal care
This can include things like helping a customer to bathe, toilet and dress, and assisting them in matters of personal hygiene.
Running errands
Many of our customers aren’t able to get out and about as much as they’d like, so they may ask you to pick up some groceries or head to the post office on their behalf.
Clinical care
Customers with more complex health conditions may require clinical care, where you may work alongside a qualified nurse to deliver a more specialised type of support.
Household chores
Household chores can include tasks like vacuuming, doing the laundry, cleaning and other time-consuming activities which our less mobile customers need assistance with.
Companionship
Sometimes, a customer’s most pressing need is simply a bit of friendly company. Whether it’s enjoying a cup of tea and cake or helping them to finish their jigsaw puzzle, companionship can do the world of good.
Pet care
Some of our customers own pets which they’re not fully able to take care of themselves, so there may be times when you’re asked to take their furry friends for a walk or top up their water bowl.
Mobility assistance
If a customer is living with a physical disability, a limiting medical condition or age-related frailty, they may need help moving around the house – particularly with getting in and out of bed and visiting the bathroom.
Pay and benefits in home care assistance
We pay ↑16% more than the national average for carers in the UK
*Salary estimated from 3,492 employees, users and past and present job advertisements on Indeed in the past 12 months. Last updated: 23 February 2022
High pay rate
We pay a higher wage than other home care companies across the UK*
Flexible working
Tell us when you’re available so that work fits around your lifestyle
Discounts and offers
You’ll get access to thousands of bargains with a FREE Blue Light card
Refer-a-friend scheme
Receive £250 as a thank you when you refer a friend (T&Cs apply)
Your application process
After you’ve applied for a position that works for you, you’re just four simple steps away from starting your new role:
Interview process
A member of our recruitment team will contact you for an interview
Pre-employment checks
We’ll need to do a thorough DBS check, and we’ll ask you to provide us with two or more external references
Internal assessment
Following your interview, we’ll invite you to an assessment day at a centre local to you
Begin your new role
Shadow an existing carer while you settle in
Your personal development
Grow your career in care with our training and development opportunities
At Helping Hands, carers are at the very heart of who we are. That’s why we don’t just offer introductory skills development; we invest in your career with regular, ongoing training opportunities.
First aid
From injuries to CPR, learn how to tend to a customer in an emergency
Our values
Family-led and exceptional standards of care with kindness at the core
Dementia awareness
This can include things like helping a customer to bathe, toilet and dress, and assisting them in matters of personal hygiene.
Safeguarding
Keeping your customer safe and knowing the warning signs to look out for
Administering medication
Safe handling of medication, recording, management and reporting errors
Manual handling
Hoisting, using mobility aids and assisting your customer to move around their home safely
Continuous development
Learning new skills, developing your knowledge and progressing your career in care
Health and safety
Awareness of accident prevention and protecting yourself and your customer
Amazing carers, delivering quality care
Care assistant FAQs
No, you can be a seasoned professional or a care novice – there is always room for you at Helping Hands. We will support you from the moment you apply, through the assessment process and into shadowing an experienced carer until you feel confident to carry out your role. All we need from you is the right attitude and a passion for helping others.
Our application process takes a matter of minutes. Following that, you’ll have a brief chat on the phone with a member of our team before being invited to a face-to-face interview. Then, we just need to run a few checks to make sure that you’re compliant to work – this stage sometimes takes a little while due to the Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check—but we’ll be making all the preparations in the background so that you can start as soon as that stage is complete.
We pay our carers competitively – but these rates do change depending on where you live – so it’s best to check on the individual advert before you apply. In addition to your hourly rate, you will also be paid your mileage between calls, and you will accrue paid holiday.
Here at Helping Hands, we aim to always promote from within. Many of our carers go on to other roles within the company, such as care coordinators, branch managers and even area care managers. You will have regular one-to-ones with your manager to discuss your development and what you’d like to achieve with Helping Hands. Many of our managers started their Helping Hands journey as a carer; with us, the sky is the limit!
Yes, all of our carers work flexible hours, and we will assign shifts around your availability. You can work as much or as little as you like, but we do ask that you share your availability with us ahead of time so that we can form a rota.
For the vast majority of our locations, we do ask our carers to have a driving licence and access to their own vehicle, as many of our customers live in rural locations. However, in some locations, such as London, we do accept walkers or cyclists – but it is best to call your local branch and double check with them before you apply.