The role of a care assistant

We offer the leading care assistant jobs, where you’ll visit our elderly clients’ homes for visits of 1 hour upwards where you’ll provide outstanding home care and support. This may involve providing companionship and personal care, basic help in the home, shopping and meal preparation support or delivering specialist care based on training received such as dementia care or medication administration.

“I came into this role without any professional care experience – only experiences with my own family which had inspired me to work in the care sector and enable elderly people to remain at home – but have not looked back since”

Carla, Care Assistant

Care assistant job description

As a professional care assistant you’ll support a small number of elderly clients to continue to live in their own home with well-being. We provide visits of a minimum of 1 hour, and often longer, to ensure you have the time to build meaningful relationships and do your job properly.

As a care assistant, your duties may include but are not limited to:

  • Providing company and companionship
  • Supporting clients with personal care, such as getting up, washing, dressing and continence
  • Helping with mobility
  • Administering medication
  • Light housekeeping such as cleaning, cooking, laundry and gardening
  • Preparing and cooking healthy meals
  • Accompanying clients to appointments and social outings
  • Supporting clients to pursue their hobbies, interests and social activities
  • Caring for specialist conditions such as dementia, Parkinson’s, stroke and other conditions

Want to know more? Hear from one of our care assistants, Jacqui, about her experience as a care assistant:

Benefits of the care assistant job

Our care assistant employment packages include:

Pay & benefits

  • Fantastic rates of pay – £11.00 to £12.76 per hour with double time on bank holidays
  • Paid travel time (means extra £1.50 per hour on average)
  • 45p per mile mileage allowance
  • Pay enhancements to recognise qualifications and long-term commitment
  • Instant access to your pay instead of waiting for payday
  • Perks of being directly employed – paid holidays, pension, funded DBS check
  • 24/7 access to a free confidential employee assistance programme helpline
  • Generous refer-a-friend scheme – up to £500 per referral

Professional Development

  • Paid extensive induction training held at your local office and online – £300 pay on completion
  • Ongoing specialist care training
  • Achieve diploma and advanced qualifications
  • Career progression along our fantastic career path

Support

  • Unrivalled 24/7, local support
  • Flexible working hours with part-time options for regular days and times – guaranteed hours available

Who can apply for care assistant jobs?

You don’t need prior experience to be a care assistant as full training is provided, however you’ll need to have excellent interpersonal and communication skills and to be a good listener. Being chatty also helps given the importance of companionship in this role.

The requirements for the role are:

  • No experience required (since full training is provided)
  • Proof of your right to work in the UK
  • A valid driving licence and your own car
  • Warm, patient and compassionate with a clear desire to support others
  • Enthusiastic and positive ‘can do’ attitude
  • Have a smartphone to use our app

Care assistant FAQs

Upon receipt of your application our recruitment team will typically review it within a week and, if your profile meets the requirements of the role, they will contact you to arrange a short telephone interview. Following this, they will arrange a face-to-face interview with you (this can also be carried out over video call if your prefer). If this is successful, you will be provided with a job offer by email.

Your recruitment manager will send your job offer to you by email. Simply click on the link in the email to open and read your offer letter. You can then click on the box at the end of the letter and enter your name and the signed document will be returned to us automatically. Your recruitment manager will then be in touch with you about completing your pre-employment checks and booking your induction.

All offers of employment are subject to us carrying out necessary pre-employment checks which includes providing your full employment history, contacting your references (two professional and one personal), completing a pre-employment health questionnaire, verifying your qualifications and completing an enhanced check with the Disclosure and Baring Service (DBS).

To make it simple for you these checks are carried out using our online screening system. Once you have signed your job offer you will receive an email enabling you to access our online screening system which will help you to provide the necessary information quickly and easily.

Please note that that cost of completing your enhanced check with the Disclosure and Baring Service (DBS) is £50, which we will pay and then deduct from your first payslip. Whilst we apply for your DBS check as soon as possible, please be aware that the processing time can be anything from 1 day to 1 month, or on rare occasions it can be longer.

All new members of our team complete a 4-day induction training course delivered at their local office and over video call. This is delivered by our in-house training team covering everything from the basic health and social care qualification – The Care Certificate – to specialist areas such as medication management, moving & handling, dementia and Parkinson’s.

Yes, you will receive a lump-sum payment for attending induction training and completing your shadowing. This will be included in your first payslip once you have fully completed the course and been signed off by your manager.

Please note that if you leave us during induction or within 3 months of completing induction you will be required to repay the full cost of the induction training which is £300. Following this period, we have a sliding repayment scale, so that the amount that you are required to repay is reduced by one quarter at quarterly intervals. Once you have completed one year’s service from the date of the end of the induction training, you will not be required to repay any of the costs of the induction training.

Yes, these will be processed and deducted automatically through your payslip each month.

Yes, we are a fully managed service and take full responsibility for employing, training and supporting our carers. This means that we can provide you with unrivalled, local, 24/7 support which we view as vital to your well-being. We also pay directly into your bank account every 4-weeks and manage all of your tax and national insurance contributions.

Yes, a care plan is written by a member of your care management team following a detailed assessment of care needs including medical conditions and all assistance required for that person’s day-to-day care. The care plan is available on your mobile phone via our app.

Yes, a member of our care management team will carry out a detailed assessment of care needs prior to writing the care plan, including all aspects of daily living such as mobility, medications, the environment etc. The information from the risk assessment will be detailed in the care plan.

We embrace technology at Carefound Home Care to make your life easier and our service more effective. This includes completing our care notes via our app and collaborating as a team through our own online community. You will access this technology on your own smart phone, but don’t worry as it’s all really simple and you’ll be trained to use it.

Yes, to be an hourly carer you’ll need to have a full UK driving licence and access to a car.

Our hourly carers are paid on a 4-weekly basis. As we employ you directly, rather than you being paid by the family, we take care of your tax and national insurance paperwork. As a direct employee of Carefound Home Care, you are also entitled to other benefits such paid travel time, 45p per mile mileage allowance, paid holidays, pension, free employee assistance programme, funded DBS check.

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