Are you thinking about hiring a domestic carer? Guardian Carers can help you find the most suitable domestic carer for your needs.

Our domestic carers are trained and vetted, making them the safest and most secure choice of help in your home. If you would like to know more about our vetting process, what a domestic carer entails and how they can help you in your home, keep reading.

What is a domestic carer and what do they do?

A domestic carer is a person who comes to provide care and support into someone’s home either part-time, full-time or live-in on a temporary or permanent basis. The length of time that a domestic carer can be employed will vary depending on the care receiver’s needs.

The length of time that a domestic carer is needed may increase or sometimes decrease. Typically, a domestic carer will be hired for a set amount of hours and days. Sometimes, people choose to start by hiring a domestic carer on a part-time basis and increase the hours as the needs evolve.

It is essential to know that a domestic carer must be qualified and have the relevant training to be able to provide care. Domestic carers are also required to possess a First Aid certificate as well as have a clean DBS certificate.

A domestic carer will be hired based on their experience and qualifications. If you are interested in hiring a domestic carer for your dementia suffering parent, for instance, you will want to look out for someone with at least 2 years of experience of looking after people with this condition.

The tasks that a domestic carer can perform are quite varied. A domestic carer nowadays does not just tend to the care needs of a person but also takes on the role of companion and housekeeper. Therefore, the duties of a domestic carer include, but are not limited to:

• Personal care duties such as helping with bathing, toileting, looking after teeth, skin, hair and nails, and assisting with dressing
• Medication administration
• Accompanying to the doctor’s
• Liaising with doctors, nurses and GPs
• Running errands such as picking up prescriptions or going to the bank or post office
• Housekeeping duties such as doing the hoovering, mopping, dusting, changing bed linen, ironing
• Doing grocery shopping or shopping for clothes and other essentials
• Accompanying on walks and activities
• Engaging the client and encouraging an active lifestyle

What does our vetting process look like?

During our years of placing carers, companions and housekeepers into our clients’ homes, we have perfected our vetting process and we keep learning and improving our methods along the way. We believe that our expert vetting process contributes to our candidates staying in long, fulfilling and happy placements.

Our vetting process starts with interviewing the candidates. Based on the job description provided by yourself, your personal consultant will research the most suitable candidates. Once they have found candidates that match your criteria to a tee, they will set up interviews with them. The interviews can take place via video link or face to face, depending on the location of the candidate and the health measures in place at the time (for example, Covid-19 restrictions).

It is important to note that our consultants will only interview candidates which have a minimum of 2 years of professional care experience. This is our promise to you. During the interview, they will go through the carer’s skills and qualifications relating to the role and discuss their experience at length.

More than this, our consultants also make sure to check any certificates or diplomas which are relevant to the role. They also ensure that the domestic carer has a clean background by reviewing their enhanced DBS check. If the domestic carer does not have a DBS check which is in date, the consultant will support them in applying for one.

The last step in vetting the domestic carer is checking their references. Our consultants do this by calling the carer’s previous employers and asking them questions relating to the role. Each domestic carer must provide 2 references for the consultant to speak to.

How can you hire a domestic carer?

The first step in hiring a domestic carer entails having a conversation with one of our consultants. During this conversation, you will talk about:

• The type of domestic carer you are looking for
• Who they will be required to look after
• What conditions or special requirements the care receiver has
• When you would like the domestic carer to start
• How long you would like them to work
• The tasks you require of them
• The expectations you have from a carer

Once all of this has been established, your consultant will start the search. They will advertise your role and look for domestic carers especially for your role and then vet them for you. Once they have been expertly vetted, you will receive domestic carers’ profiles to choose from.

You will make your selection of domestic carers whom you prefer the most and then you will be offered the chance to interview them as well. Depending on your preferences, you can interview them face to face, via video link or on the phone.

Once you have conducted your interviews and you have found a domestic carer you absolutely love, your consultant will support you and your new domestic carer with the hiring process. Your consultant will keep in touch with you even after your new domestic carer has settled into their role in your home.

If you would like to know more about our domestic care service and find out more about how we vet and train our domestic carers, our helpful consultants are only a phone call away on 0207 183 1395.