Straight answers
The questions care providers and healthcare professionals actually ask us. If yours is not here, call Landline 01823 212 811, Mobile 07460 246 863, Text 07576 577 935.
Every question welcome
Booking staff
What sort of staff can you supply?
Registered nurses, senior care staff, healthcare assistants, and chefs.
Which services do you supply into?
Nursing homes, residential care homes, hospitals, community services, supported living, learning disability services, mental health services, complex care providers and registered live-in care providers. If your service is not on that list, ask us anyway.
Where do you operate?
We supply across the South West. We are based in Taunton and Bridgwater and have an established presence across the region, so response times here are the fastest.
How quickly can you fill an urgent shift?
Call Landline 01823 212 811, Mobile 07460 246 863, Text 07576 577 935 and we will start looking immediately. Our on-call line is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
We will always tell you honestly whether we can fill it. What we will never do is send an unvetted worker to make a booking look filled.
What checks has a Capegold worker been through?
Before anyone is placed with you:
- Enhanced DBS check appropriate to the role
- Two references, verified by us
- Right to work in the UK confirmed from original documents
- Mandatory training completed, with practical competencies observed
- Professional registration checked at source for nurses
Compliance records are available for your own file on request.
Who sets your clinical standards?
The clinical standards that decide who we accept, what competence looks like and how a concern is escalated are set and reviewed by people with experience in care and nursing who know how care homes run, rather than by a sales function. Clinical roles are screened against clinical criteria by someone qualified to apply them.
Do you provide live-in care?
No. We provide live-in care recruitment for registered providers. We recruit and supply experienced live-in care staff to registered home care and live-in care providers. Your organisation directs and manages the care. We deliver dependable, fully vetted staff ready to join your service.
Are you an agency or an employment business?
Both, depending on the service. When we supply temporary staff we act as an employment business. When we introduce someone for a permanent post we act as an employment agency. Our terms of business are written under the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003.
How does invoicing work?
Weekly in arrears unless we agree otherwise, with payment due within 14 days. Timesheets are authorised by your service before they are invoiced. Our current rate card is issued with your terms of business, ask for it at any point.
What if we need to cancel a booked shift?
We ask for four hours' notice on a booked shift, and we hold ourselves to the same standard in the other direction. The detail is set out in your terms of business.
Are you insured?
No member of staff is ever placed without employers' liability, public liability and medical malpractice insurance in force. We send you a copy of each current certificate before your first placement and again at every renewal.
What if we want to take a temporary worker on permanently?
That happens, and we do not stand in the way of it. A transfer fee applies, charged as a percentage of the annual salary and set out in your terms of business. Talk to us early and we will make it straightforward.
Are you a cheap agency?
No. We are a premium agency. We vet properly, we pay our staff fairly and we send people who turn up, including at weekends. Our rate card shows how every rate is built, so you can see what you are paying for. Some homes choose on weekday price alone and we understand that. Our rates reflect a service you can rely on, and we would rather be the agency you call when it matters than the cheapest line on a spreadsheet. If price alone is the deciding factor we are probably not the right agency, and we will say so.
Questions from care professionals
Working with us
What experience do I need?
At least three months' paid experience in a healthcare setting, and two referees who can confirm it. If you are close but not quite there, apply anyway and say so , a person reads every application and nothing is rejected automatically.
How long does the application take?
The online form takes about five minutes on a phone. After that we call you for a proper conversation, then move on to compliance checks and training.
Will you contact my referees straight away?
No. We only contact your referees when you tell us to progress your application. That consent is recorded on the form, and you can withdraw it at any time.
Do I have to pay for a DBS check or training?
Mandatory training is provided by us. If a DBS check is required, we will explain exactly what happens and what, if anything, it costs before anything is started. We will never take money from you without telling you first.
What shifts are available?
Weekday days, weekday nights, weekend days, weekend nights and sleep-ins, in services across the South West. You tell us your availability and how far you can travel, and we work within it.
Do I have to accept a shift you offer me?
No. You always see the service, the role, the hours and the rate before you accept. Declining a shift does not affect what we offer you next.
How and when do I get paid?
Weekly, against authorised timesheets. You will know your rate before you accept any shift. If something looks wrong on your pay, call us and we will look at it.
What do I do if something goes wrong on a shift?
Call us. Our on-call line runs 24 hours a day. If it is a safeguarding concern, follow the service's safeguarding procedure and tell us immediately, concerns are escalated to a clinical decision-maker, not filed away.
What happens if I am harassed on a placement?
Tell us straight away, however small it seems. Ring or text a director on Landline 01823 212 811, Mobile 07460 246 863 or Text 07576 577 935, or email admin@capegoldcare.co.uk. You do not have to go through the placement first and you can report anonymously. If you feel unsafe, you can leave the placement and ring us. Reporting will never cost you shifts.
What happens to the information I put on the application form?
Your application details are used to assess your suitability for work through Capegold Care Ltd and are handled in line with our privacy policy. We will contact you about your application by phone, email or WhatsApp. We do not sell your data, and you can ask us to delete it at any time.
I need an adjustment. Can you help?
Yes. There is a box on the application form for exactly this, and you can tell us at any later point. Adjustments for an interview, for training or on shift are treated as normal, not as a favour.
What do you expect from me?
Reliability. You choose your shifts, and once you have accepted one you turn up, on time, including at weekends. If something goes wrong, call us straight away so we can arrange cover. In return you are paid fairly, weekly and on time, and treated as a professional.
Ask a human
Ten minutes on the phone usually beats an hour of searching. Call 01823 212 811 or send the contact form and we will talk it through.
Contact usStill have a question?
Ask a person. We would rather answer it properly.