About the role
Hands-on care in residential and nursing homes, supporting older adults and people living with dementia through their day.
These are the criteria providers across the UK typically set for this role, so you can judge your own fit before you apply anywhere. Individual services vary — any role we put you forward for will have its own criteria, pay and rota, and we confirm those with the provider first.
What the role usually involves
- Deliver personal care with dignity — washing, dressing, continence support and mealtimes
- Support mobility safely, using hoists and equipment as you have been trained to
- Notice and report changes in someone’s health, mood, appetite or skin integrity
- Keep company: conversation, activities and the small routines that make a home feel like one
- Complete care records and fluid, food or repositioning charts on the shift they relate to
Typical criteria
- Care experience helps, but plenty of homes recruit on values and train from there
- Care Certificate completed, or a commitment to complete it
- Physical comfort with moving and handling and with personal care
- Availability for long shifts, alternate weekends and bank holidays
- Steady, accurate record keeping — a CQC inspection leans heavily on it
Often asked for as well
Not usually dealbreakers, but they widen the range of services that will consider you.
- Level 2 Diploma in Adult Care
- Dementia, end of life or medication administration training
- Experience working alongside registered nurses in a nursing home
Hours and pay
Mostly 12-hour days or nights on a rolling rota, with part-time and bank shifts widely available.
Nights, weekends and nursing-home settings usually carry an enhancement. Senior duties should be paid above the range rather than absorbed into it — worth asking about if you are being asked to lead a shift.
Checks and eligibility
- An enhanced DBS check on the relevant barred list, or a current one on the update service we can check
- The right to work in the UK — we are not a licensed sponsor, so we cannot offer visa sponsorship or take over an existing certificate
- A full employment history with references covering it, including one from your most recent care employer
- Proof of identity and address, plus evidence of any qualification or professional registration the role depends on