Care Assistant job description

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Care Assistant responsibilities

As a care assistant for Helping Hands, otherwise known as a visiting carer, you’ll drop-in on a number of customers each day, providing help around the home and with each of their individual care needs.

Your responsibilities may involve:

• Personal care – help with getting in and out bed, washing, bathing, dressing and, when necessary, help going to the toilet.
• Overseeing medication – with appropriate training first and all based on the customer’s personal care plan.
• Household chores – help with tasks and chores around the home, such as vacuuming or preparing meals.
• Running errands – many of our customers require support getting out and about, so you’ll assist with tasks such as shopping or picking up prescriptions.
• Companionship – provide company for your customers, treating them with dignity, patience and compassion at all times.

We’re looking for new care champions across England and Wales who can start soon. Search for the latest vacancies here.

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Flexible work that fits around you

Becoming a care assistant provides so many flexible work options.

With visits from as little as 30 minutes a week, you can choose between full-time or part-time work and even the days or times you’re available to work on a regular basis.

You’ll be expected to travel to customer homes across your local area, so a full valid UK driving licence and access to a car are both essential in most locations. In return, we offer a very generous mileage allowance.

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Skills required

Previous experience working in a care-based role is valuable, but not essential, for becoming a private care assistant at Helping Hands. We’d like to hire people who are compassionate, personable, hard-working and possess a genuine desire to help vulnerable people to enjoy a better quality of life. Care assistant skills are varied; as well as being friendly and approachable, you’ll also need to be able to perform household chores such as cleaning and cooking, be comfortable providing intimate personal care, be agile enough to provide mobility support to customers, speak fluent English, and possess a full UK driving licence.

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Qualifications

You won’t need any formal qualifications to become a carer with us – we place more value on the type of person that you are, and your passion for helping others. We won’t ask you to start caring for customers until you’re fully prepared, though. We provide you with comprehensive training when you start with us, as well as giving you time to shadow existing carers to learn the job. Not only that, but we’ll continue to support your personal development so that, if you wish, you can take on new responsibilities and pursue a career with us.

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How much do care assistants get paid?

As the nation’s leading home care provider, we pride ourselves on making sure our carers are properly taken care of. A big part of that is ensuring that all of our carers are directly employed by us, and that we offer very competitive hourly rates of pay which vary depending on where you live. To get a better idea of what your hourly pay will be, it’s best to look at the specific job advert for your area. In addition to your hourly rate, you’ll also be paid for mileage between visits, as well as accruing holiday pay.