Helping Hands Home Care (Newport)

All carer are happy to help mum needs, always friendly and happy to talk with her, on phone office staff is always nice and happy to help

We have used helping hands for some years now but I am writing this because over the past 12 months, we have been considering finding another agency. For the most part, the carers are helpful and friendly and do what is asked of them efficiently, however, timekeeping is a real problem and the morale of the staff seems low. Recruitment and retention appear to be a real problem for the organisation and I wonder whether this is related to pay or working conditions or both. Happy staff are essential in this line of work because the clients are vulnerable and don’t want to feel as if they are a burden.

Helping Hands has provided the very best care to my parents. The carers are not only very experienced and effective but also warm and supportive. They are part of the family now. Knowing my parents are safe and well cared for is a huge comfort

My mother had a Helping Hands live-in carer for some eight months. The manager was very helpful, explained everything clearly and made it easy to set up the care package. They continued to provide support throughout. My mother's live-in carer was simply wonderful, professional and stood out from all others. The quality of care they provided was exemplary. From the outset, they took it upon themselves to understand Mum, her needs, likes and dislikes. They took time to talk to me about Mum as well as talking to Mum herself. They discovered the things Mum liked to eat and cooked her lovely, nutritious meals which Mum clearly enjoyed. Mum was fiercely independent; she didn't readily accept help and could be quite stubborn. The carer had a very patient, encouraging approach, involving Mum in everything they safely could and succeeding with gentle persuasion. End of life care given with sensitivity and compassion. Hourly relief care was provided by the local Helping Hands branch. Thank you.

Communication between myself and the carers, as well as with their line manager, is excellent, as is the ongoing monitoring of Dad's needs.

We had a number of live-in carers for four years and overall the standard was good, with only one minor exception and this view would be agreed by my wife who died at the end of March 2022. All the carers were diligent about medication needs and anticipating prescription requirements. They were alert to her needs and sympathetic in the manner in which she was looked after.

We had an excellent service from the main contact. She bent over backwards to get 24/7 care in place as we needed it suddenly and immediately! The carers provided were adequate and looked after my fathers needs and kept him safe but did not eat with him or share many interests with him. We found it very difficult to cover the two hours in the day when they could not guarantee cover although they were very flexible about when those two hours would be. In the end, this was not the right care for my Father but they did provide us with the help at the time when we were trying to sort ourselves out and couldn't have been more helpful both with what they provided and with emotional support for the family. We chose Helping Hands because they provide a contact who oversees the carers and we thought this was one of the most important features of the service.

They are all getting much better at jigsaws as well!

My mother and father have been in the care of Helping Hands during their journey with dementia. My parents carer and her team at your Caldicot branch have been outstanding with assisting my parents through the provision of a smile and comfort to ensuring food, fluids and medication is given. The care sector can be difficult however the care team who have visited my parents have been thoughtful, kind, caring and nothing is too much trouble. I would highly recommend the Helping Hands Care team to provide a compassionate professional service with a humanistic approach forming friendships with their patients and lasting memories for all.