Answering your questions

This is where you’ll find answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about live-in care. Of course, if there’s anything else you’d like to know, please do get in touch.

General

You will be offered an informal meeting (that’s completely free) with your locally based live-in carer manager. They will arrange to meet with all involved including, most importantly, the person who requires care.

Once everything is agreed, you will be able to choose from a selection of carers that accurately suit your requirements.

It’s so important that your live-in carer is someone who you feel comfortable with. We place extra special importance in matching you with someone who you are most likely to get on with.

If for some reason you are finding it difficult to get along with your carer, please speak to your care specialist as soon as possible and we will work with you to either resolve any problems or to find someone who is more suitable.

Rest assured that whatever time of day or night, there is always someone available to provide help, advice and guidance.

If there’s an emergency outside of office hours, your carer can access a dedicated helpline. Each carer is also comprehensively trained in first aid and will know how to respond should something happen.

Your carer is entitled to 14 hours of breaks each week. Some carers take two hours of breaks each day, while others bank their hours to take a longer break over three or four days. All placements and families work differently and it’s worked out completely on an individual basis.

A carer’s holidays are planned, and another carer will always be ready to provide cover.

Yes they do, which means a live-in carer must have their own room in your house so that they are on hand to support your 24/7. 

Of course. It’s so important that your carer respects your dignity and privacy at all times, which is exactly what we train them to do.

Before matching you with a live-in carer, we sit down with you to create a care plan that is built entirely around your needs, outlining how much or how little you want your carer to be involved with. We do our very best to include these boundaries from the start, but something may crop up from time to time.

Your care specialist is always there to set any of these boundaries for you, but you are free to speak with your live-in carer directly.

Your family can receive updates as frequently as they like. If you’d like certain family members to be kept up to date, please share this with your care specialist and it can be built into your care plan.

We go to great lengths to ensure all of our live-in carers are providing a high standard of care. Your care specialist will have regular review meetings with you to see how everything is going. If you have any concerns, we are here to help.

We regularly review and meet with live-in carers to ensure they are providing the right standard of care and whether they have any further training needs.

We’re also fully inspected, rated and regulated by the following official bodies:

  • Care Quality Commission (CQC) for England
  • Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)

Yes, an individual care plan will be written to your exact needs. This will detail things like your medical conditions, medication and all the assistance you require for your day-to-day care. This will be kept in your home so you and your carer can refer to it at any time.

Yes, it really does depend on who you feel most comfortable with. We can provide you with a selection of carers for you to make your choice. Each have a detailed profile so you have an insight into their experience and personality.

About Helping Hands’ carers

It’s very important to find the right people to work as carers. So before they take up a live-in carer role, we check each potential carer has:

  • The right to work in the UK
  • An excellent level of spoken and written English
  • Passed the enhanced Basic Disclosure checks by the Criminal Records Bureau

On top of our strict procedures and interview process, we are constantly reviewing and assessing applicants throughout our training programme, ensuring they’re the right fit to provide quality care at home.

In fact, only 2% of the people who apply actually make it through to becoming a live-in carer. 

We train every new carer who joins our team, even if they have care qualifications or previous experience. Some of the training takes place in a simulated home environment where each of our new carers learn what it takes to be a great live-in carer.

From administering medication to cooking nutritious meals and safely using hoists to move a customer in or out of bed, this intensive and practical training gives each carer the skills to keep you safe, happy and fully supported. 

Alongside covering a wide range of essential topics, our award-winning training gives them a real feel for providing the high quality care you can expect – and that we expect of them. It’s also good to know that our training tops the statutory requirements for carer training set by the Care Sector Council.

Extra training is provided as and when required to ensure each live-in carer has the skills and knowledge to provide the right level of support. For more complex healthcare needs, this may involve one-to-one training from a registered nurse from our clinical care team.

We believe in training and supporting our carers to the highest standards, so that they can provide the highest quality care.

Each carer has a dedicated live-in care manager that they can call on during office hours and an experienced carer mentor for extra support. Outside of office hours, they can access support from our carer helpline. We also encourage our carers to take advantage of our on-going training opportunities to gain further skills.

Healthcare

Yes, your carer will know from your individual care plan what medication dosages you need. If required, they are trained to administer your medication.

Basic first aid and CPR training is provided to all carers which includes how to keep a person breathing and how to reduce pain or minimise the consequences of injury or sudden illness until an ambulance arrives. 

For more complex healthcare needs, carers are trained on a one-to-one basis by a registered nurse (a Clinical Care Specialist) who will instruct them on how to complete the tasks required according to your requirements. This could involve fitting leg/night bags to catheters, removing/emptying drainage bags, peg-feeding tubes, changing colostomy bags or changing continence bags. If there are particular risks associated with your condition, carers are also trained to manage and respond quickly to these, for example the risk of autonomic dysreflexia for those with a spinal injury.

Your care plan will clearly outline which medications can be administered and the carer will follow strict procedures for these. This includes oral medications, specific creams, ointments and ear & eye drop treatments.

If medication needs to be administered by needle, one of our registered nurses will train your carer on a one-to-one basis to administer this.

Yes, if you need support with physiotherapy exercises, our carers can provide that support. It is possible for your carer to receive direct instructions from your own physiotherapist to help with this. 

The extra motivation from your live-in carer to do exercises on a regular basis can really help in your recovery.

Carer’s needs

Your carer is entitled to 14 hours of breaks each week. Some carers take two hours of breaks each day, while others bank up their hours to take a longer break over three or four days. All placements and families work differently and it’s worked out completely on an individual basis.

Alongside your main live-in carer, you will also have extra carers who will support you while your main carer takes a break. Most of the time this happens every few weeks, but it is completely dependent on your situation and the carer themselves. This will be outlined in your care plan. Just like your main carer, your supporting carers will also be carefully handpicked for their expertise and personality fit.

The carer must have their own private room so they can have their own privacy when needed. The basics for their room are a bed and somewhere to put their clothes, for example a wardrobe or a chest of drawers.  

Very often the carer will cook and eat with the customer but it’s completely up to you. We ask that an additional £35 is put aside each week to cover the carer’s food.    

Carer duties and roles

Yes, your carer will be able to feed, walk and care for your pet as required.

Yes, they will be able to run errands for you, such as collecting prescriptions, and will be able to take you to appointments if you need.  

It depends on your requirements. If it’s important for you to get around by car, you can be matched with a carer who can drive.

Some families request that a driver is essential and are happy for the carer to be added to their car insurance.

From cooking to cleaning and laundry to shopping, your carer is there to help you around your home however they can. They can do light housework, such as washing up, keeping worktops clean, tidying, cleaning the bathroom on a regular basis and dusting and vacuuming when needed.

We train our carers in basic food hygiene so they will ensure the basic essentials of good housekeeping are covered. They can also cook nutritious meals according to your tastes.

Your friends and family are free to come and go as they please. It’s completely up to you whether you would like your carer to stay with you whilst you have a visitor – some people still want the extra support while others want some privacy with their loved ones. We can always arrange for your carer to take a break when your loved ones come to visit if you prefer.

Our care plans are very flexible and built around your needs. If you want to take a break with family or friends, we will arrange for your live-in carer to take some time off. We just ask for a little notice.

Some customers request for their live-in carer to go on holiday with them, providing the same level of support as they would at home. This can certainly be arranged, and your local care specialist can go through the finer details with you to ensure you have the right support throughout your trip.

Carer employment

Each live-in carer has a locally based live-in care manager. This is the same person who is your main point of contact for any queries. They regularly contact customers and carers to ensure they have all the support they need.

Complaints and concerns about care must be taken very seriously and settled thoroughly and satisfactorily. You can make a complaint by:

Email: complaints@helpinghands.co.uk

Post: Quality Assurance, Helping Hands Home Care, 10 Tything Road West, Kinwarton, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 6EP

Phone: 01789 762121

Or in person: Helping Hands Home Care, 10 Tything Road West, Kinwarton, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 6EP

If there’s anything else you’d like to know about live-in care, please do get in touch to talk through your needs and ask any questions you may have.

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