Become an In-Home Care Assistant in Cumbria
If you have a natural caring tendency and love helping people, then working as an In-Home Carer might just be the perfect job for you. Home Carers help people to remain independent in their own homes by providing practical help and support that is tailored to a person’s needs and preferences.
Home Carers need practical skills, initiative, a genuine desire to help others and a willingness to undertake training and learn new skills. This page describes the role, the training you will receive, the pay and benefits, and our carers experiences of being a home carer.
The seven duties of home care
Care work is rich and varied. Here are some of the main duties of the role:
Personal Care
Helping people with their personal hygiene including showering, bathing, dental hygiene, catheter & stoma care.
Meal Preparation
Supporting people to make meals or preparing meals for them. You can help with planning and assisting people with shopping. Sometimes we need to keep a diary of a client’s food and nutrition intake.
Medication Help
Helping people with medication i.e. taking it from packets, reminding them to take it or helping with the application of prescribed creams, and keeping medication records.
Household Tasks
Help with small household tasks such as washing up, cleaning kitchen surfaces, emptying bins, changing bedding and general tidying.
Using Equipment
Every carer will receive training so they can provide support with mobility and assist a person using equipment such as hoists, stand-aids, glide sheets, hospital beds and commodes.
Social Activities
Carers help people to continue with their social activities. Home carers can drive people to events, support them during an activity and take them home again.
Palliative Care/End of Life Care
Home carers help to ensure people are comfortable by providing emotional support, hands-on nursing and personal care, pain management, medication help.
Getting up to speed with home care assistant training
We can help everyone to achieve your training goals. As long as you have the right values we will support you throughout your career progression with us.
Our in-house trainers, Judy and Charlotte, will welcome you into our company and your new home care role. They will provide your initial induction training in our Penrith office.
You will undertake our induction programme and the Skills for Care, Care Certificate. This award includes a set of standards which define the knowledge, skills and behaviour you’ll need to become a home carer. It includes topics such as safeguarding, infection control and dementia awareness. Once you have completed this you will receive a certificate which you can take with you to other health and social care roles.
Our induction training also includes courses on health & safety, first aid, medication and moving & handling. Following this you will be supervised with another carer, known as shadowing, for up to two weeks to help you get to know our clients and their routines.
After shadowing an experienced carer, you will venture out into the community, but our trainers will continue to support you and contact you when additional training is required. They will also help you plan your career pathway and help you decide what further training would be suitable.
Training continues throughout your career and you will have options to undertake health & social care diplomas, distance learning courses as well as our mandatory annual and three-yearly update training.
Home Care Hours of Work and Shifts
Home care is provided between 6.30am and 11pm every day. Most people receive care visits of 30 minutes to one hour, however some might have longer visits to enable their partner to have a little respite. This means there are a number of shift options available for people wanting to work as a home carer.
Hours are flexible and include shift patterns designed to support parents, carers or retired people to work in a way that suits them best. Here are examples of available shifts, but you will have the opportunity to discuss your availability during an interview.
For normal full and part time care workers:
Morning Shifts normally start at 6.30am and finish at 2pm
Evening shifts start at 3pm and finish at 10-11pm
For parents working around school hours:
Morning shifts start at 9.15am and finish at around 3pm
Evening Shifts start at 3.45pm and finish at 10-11pm
Weekends
We ask everyone to commit to some weekend hours as people need our care and support every day. Full time employees are asked to work every other weekend and normally undertake three shifts while part-time employees may undertake two shifts at the weekend.
Other Options
We have some care visits that require a carer to socialise with a client for a number of hours each week. This might be in the client’s home or could include taking the person out to local activities or events. If you only want to work a few hours a week supporting the same person then this is a great option.
Home Care role in Cumbria - Pay & Benefits
- Our hourly rate with no care qualifications is £11.00 pence per hour
- The hourly rate with Level 2 (and above) Health & Social Care qualification is £11.38 per hour
- Paid travel time between care visits is £10.42 per hour
- Mileage allowance to cover your fuel costs between care visits is also paid at 0.35 pence per mile
- Rates of pay are reviewed annually each April
- We supply you with a full employment contract with weekly contracted hours of work
Your career
- Free health & social care diplomas are available to all of our employees through our partner, Kendal College
- We support your career so you can choose a pathway into your desired job and decide what qualifications and experience you would like to gain
- Opportunities are available to progress from Home Carer to Senior Carer, Supervisor, training and managerial jobs
Other benefits
- Loyalty bonus scheme for staying with us and increased annual leave allowance
- Enhanced bank holiday pay rates and bonuses
- Carer of the month scheme to celebrate outstanding care
- Flexible shifts to support families and people who have retired
- Mileage and travel bonuses throughout the year
The Qualities we look for in a Home Carer
Dignity & Respect
You spend time listening to people to get to know them and their needs
You respect people’s right to make their own choices and decisions about how they want to be supported
You communicate with people in a clear, open and straightforward way using appropriate language
Learning & Reflection
You accept and think about any feedback you are given about your work and learn from the feedback
You are honest and transparent and not afraid to admit when you have made a mistake
You know your own limits and can identify when you need help and support and are feeling stressed by your work
Working in Partnership
You're committed to working as part of a team and supporting others in the team
You offer people a range of realistic options and choices about the support available to them
You understand and respect that other people have different priorities and needs
Commitment to Quality
You give people your full attention and help people when they need it most
You're warm, kind, reliable, empathetic and compassionate towards the people you support
You're flexible and react calmly to whatever goes on in the day making changes as necessary
Why we love working in care
To help you decide if a career in-home care is the right choice for you our carers have shared some of their experiences of caring for our clients:
“I cared for a lady with Alzheimer’s who lived on her own. At first she wouldn't accept she needed help but due to her confusion she needed support with personal care and meal preparation. I got to know her better and realised she enjoyed music so I suggested she could enjoy listening to her records whilst in the bath which she thought was highly amusing but absolutely loved the idea. AfterwardsI helped to get her dry and had lunch prepared and waiting for her. After this I knew how I could help her with personal care in a dignified way that she also thoroughly enjoyed”.
Michelle, Appleby Team
“I cared for a young lady with a mental health issue which meant she didn’t take care of her personal appearance and wasn’t eating well. She loved animals so to coax her out of the house I invited her to visit some stables. As she enjoyed it so much I then encouraged her to volunteer for a local art project. Because she got involved in activities outside of her home she started to take much more care of herself and got back into a good eating routine. Eventually her mental health improved so much that she found employment and no longer had care needs. I’ll miss her but it’s amazing to think what a difference you’ve made”. Joanne, Penrith Team
“I care for a lady who had a stroke and can’t mobilize so most of the care is provided on the bed by 2 carers. We help her to get washed on the bed by being careful to cover her top half whilst washing the bottom half and vice versa. We always chat along with her while doing this to help her feel relaxed. One day I was helping to tidy things away and was alone with her, she asked me to help with a job she was really embarrassed about. She had hairs on her chin which after her stroke she couldn't manage to pull them out. I used the tweezers and helped to get rid of them and I continue to discreetly help with them when needed. It seems like such a small thing but it really matters to her and to be able to help and for her to trust me is so rewarding”. Lauren, Keswick Team
How to apply for a home care job with us
Choose how to apply
Complete our online application form: edencountrycare.co.uk/page/apply or call/text our recruitment line: 07873 251664
Alternatively, you can send us your CV by email colette@edencountrycare.co.uk or by post to, Recruitment, Eden Country Care, Unit 5A Redhills Business Park, Penrith, CA11 0DT
Congratulations you’ve made it to the interview
Now that your application has been successful we will contact you and invite you for an interview with a team manager or trainer.
Get to know us
Prepare for your interview by visiting edencountrycare.co.uk and select any of the branch pages for the area you would like to work in. This will provide you with information about the team and the services they provide. You can also read our Advice section about caring for a person at home
We want you to do well in the interview
Attend your interview at our office in Penrith. Some interviews can also be arranged via video call. Interviews normally last around 30-45 minutes and give you an opportunity to tell us why you want to care for others.