Helping Hands - East Northumberland

I cannot praise the team enough for what they have done and how well my father has responded.

The Helping Hands ladies have been caring for my 93-year-old Aunt for the past 18 months, 3 visits a day. She has her regular ladies who I know genuinely care for her well-being and are extremely considerate when visiting. My Aunt is a very private lady and originally didn't want strangers coming into her home but very quickly became comfortable with them around. She doesn't think of them as carers, but friends calling to help out. The admin staff are wonderful and do their best to deal with any requests or issues I have had. Contact with the management has always been dealt with in a very professional manner. I call the ladies Angels in Disguise as they provide fantastic support, not just for my Aunt, but for me as well. It can be stressful being responsible for the welfare of an elderly person and it helps knowing she is getting the best home care possible. I honestly don't know what I would do without them all.

Lovely kind staff very friendly and welcoming and very caring only started but I can already tell that it’s a very lovely service better than past service I have used. Better management as well looking forward to having some fun days out.

A big thank you to all staff who attend and look after my dad. The care and time taken with my dad have been excellent this year especially given the circumstances we have found ourselves in through Covid-19. I know and appreciate everything you all do. Some members of staff go above and beyond. Many thanks.

This company is the best around. They go above and beyond their duties. The girls really do care for my parents. Any hiccups, which are exceptionally rare, are dealt with immediately. Excellent service.

I have been very happy with the care my mam received. Mam was very reluctant at first to accept carers into her home but adjusted quickly and enjoyed the visits. The carers were really supportive to me as a daughter and very caring towards my mam. The office staff were always helpful and acted quickly to support mam's needs. I would very much recommend this service.

We have known the carer for several months in her capacity as a care worker and have always found her to bring a ray of sunshine together with a few bars of her favourite songs. She carries out her duties in a professional manner and goes the extra mile to ensure her clients receive the best possible service.

From May 2020, your staff supported my wife. Initially, things worked fine, but around the end of 2020, difficulties arose. A personality clash occurred; Helping Hands managers worked hard to resolve the issues. My wife now has four excellent ladies supporting her. She is really benefiting. Thank you.

Your staff have been on the whole very good. One or two didn't know what to do for my dad. I can understand as my Dad is 95 years young.

Our mother came home from hospital to spend the final six weeks of her life in her own surroundings with the daunting thought of having carers in 4 times each day with someone staying overnight. This was made bearable by the friendly, caring approach of everyone at Helping Hands. They treated our Mam with the utmost dignity and respect. A life expectancy of six weeks became twenty-two weeks in which trust and comfort was embedded. As a family, we could not have wished for any better for our Mam. The care given by a small team of carers was excellent. They were all dedicated to the practical and emotional care for our Mother, whilst extending their caring to emotionally supporting our Dad. Sadly, our Mother passed away whilst the overnight carers were present. The dignity and respect shown will never be forgotten. It was the extra touches that made the whole experience of losing our Mam very personal. They removed all the clinical items from her bedroom making it her bedroom again, carefully folding her nightdress on the chair so we could retain her presence through our senses. There are no words to convey our true appreciation.

Decline in service over the past couple of months, high turnover of staff, don't even bother to call the office, they don't listen. Requested rotas either by email or post, they come every now and then but are hardly ever accurate. Requested calls after 8am for mum, the carers come at 6.50am. Have a key safe installed, the carers hammer on the door at 7.00 in the morning to be let in (luckily I was there to let them in). Recently I have noticed that whilst we may be charged and billed for 30 minutes you'll be lucky if you get 15 minutes. I've had to request the removal of two carers the first due to a personality clash with mum (she took offence at being called a nasty piece of work by the carer - understandably) and the second that was an hour late, gave mum 15 minutes in the morning and was rushed and very rough with mum. Requested office to not send her for a couple of weeks to give mum time to forget, two days later she's back. Helping Hands at the moment they are not.

The care I have been given from Helping Hands has put me on the recovery to better health as I was very poorly when my care plan started. I am more than grateful for this.

I have had to ring Helping Hands on a few occasions when care has fallen below standards. I also leave notes which was suggested by Helping Hands. Some carers are great and others not so great. Sometimes a bit common sense is needed. I know it is not easy looking after a client with dementia but sometimes things could be improved.

I went to see my brother for a visit, when I was leaving one of his carers arrived, she had a handful of snow, she said you can't get out to see it so I brought some in for you. I just thought how lovely. He put his hand out, the carer put the snow in his hand, he said it reminds me of being a kid and throwing them down each other's back.

I felt this was so very small but a huge encounter for him.