Every Here2Help companion is Garda-vetted, fully insured, and trained in caring for vulnerable patients. Here's how we hire — and what that means for your family.
Our companions are not taxi drivers with extra time on their hands. They're healthcare assistants, retired nurses, carers from HSE home-care and private agencies, and trained community support workers who choose this work because they're good at it.
Most of our companions have come to us from one of three places: home-care agencies looking for flexible additional hours, the retired nurses' register held by the INMO, and final-year nursing students looking for paid clinical-adjacent work alongside their training. They are people who already know how to talk to a frightened patient, who recognise the signs when someone isn't quite right, and who don't flinch at a wheelchair, a Zimmer frame, or a tearful goodbye in a hospital corridor.
What that means for you: when we send a companion to collect your mam, they're not figuring this out on the job. They've done it a hundred times before.
Five steps before a companion ever takes a Here2Help booking.
We only consider applicants with prior paid or supervised experience in healthcare, home care, hospice, or community support work. No exceptions, no shortcuts.
Every companion holds current Garda vetting under the National Vetting Bureau Acts. If their existing vetting is from a previous role, we re-verify directly. If it's expired, we apply for fresh vetting before they're cleared to work.
Minimum two references from prior care roles. We ring them. We ask the awkward questions. We listen for what isn't said.
A founder-led conversation that covers practical skills, judgement under pressure, and — most importantly — how they talk about previous patients and families. Warmth shows up here or it doesn't.
New companions complete a shadow shift with an experienced colleague before their first solo booking. No one is ever sent to a hospital ward on their first day on the job.
Every companion signs a written code of conduct: dignity standards, family communication, what to do if a patient seems unwell. We review compliance every quarter.
Here2Help carries full public liability and professional indemnity insurance covering every booking. Every companion's vehicle is verified as roadworthy and insured for paid passenger carry. We don't let insurance gaps be your problem.
Full cover protecting families against unlikely accidents during the booking — from a slip at the hospital entrance to a stumble at the front door.
Cover for the unlikely event that a companion's actions or omissions cause harm. This is the same standard cover held by registered home-care providers in Ireland.
Every companion's motor insurance is checked for valid hire-and-reward or business-use cover before they take a paid booking. If their personal policy doesn't cover it, we arrange it.
Beyond the qualifications they bring from their healthcare backgrounds, every Here2Help companion completes our internal training before their first solo booking. It's not a slideshow. It's a practical workshop covering the situations that actually come up.
When we confirm your booking, we send you:
No mystery. No anonymous arrival. You know exactly who is collecting your relative.