Home care agency · Harlow
Helping Hands Harlow
Illustrative photo, not of Helping Hands Harlow- Address
- 40 High Street, Harlow, CM17 0DW
- Run by
- Midshires Care Limited (150 services)
- Type of provider
- Independent (private company)
- Service
- Home care agency
- Dementia
- Registered with CQC to support people living with dementia
- Registered with CQC
- March 2020 (6 years)
- Part of
- Midshires Care Ltd
- Registered manager
- April Grace Briggs
- Company check
- Active, trading since 2000 (26 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 03959933)
- Last CQC check
- 7 Oct 2021
- Typical fees Estimated
- £28.50–£35 an hour for visiting care, weekdays; live-in £1,380–£1,680 a week. Our estimate from published local prices (Helping Hands publishes rates a little below the national median, plus a travel charge), not a quote. How we estimate
Registered to provide: Personal care · Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
More in Harlow: Home care in Harlow (65) · Best rated home care agencies in Harlow · Dementia care at home in Harlow · Elderly care at home in Harlow · Physical disability care at home in Harlow · Live-in care in Harlow
Read the full CQC inspection report · CQC location ID 1-8485523126
Introducing Helping Hands Harlow
Helping Hands Harlow in Harlow is registered with the Care Quality Commission as a home care agency, run by Midshires Care Limited. The service is registered to support adults of all ages and lists dementia, physical disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health conditions and sight or hearing loss among its specialisms.
CQC rated it Good overall (October 2021). Well-led was rated Requires improvement. It is one of 65 CQC-registered home care agencies that have an office within 7 miles of Harlow; 36 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.
History with CQC
Helping Hands Harlow has been registered with CQC since March 2020, about 6 years.
One overall rating to date: Good, published October 2021.
The rating is 5 years old. CQC decides when to return based on risk, so age alone is not a warning sign; still, ask who the manager is now.
From the latest CQC inspection
- People and relatives spoke positively about the care and support they received from staff.
- However, we received mixed feedback about whether there was enough staff available and relatives did not always feel there was adequate communication or engagement from the provider.
- Staff told us they did not always feel valued or supported in their roles.
- The registered manager told us the service had gone through a period of change with staff leaving and new staff being recruited but the service was now becoming more settled.
Inspected 23 September 2021; report published 7 October 2021. From the regulator's own summary (Open Government Licence). Read the full report.
Registered specialisms
Specialisms as registered with CQC.
How it fits locally
Choice is wide here: the 25 nearest other agencies are all within 3 miles, 13 of them rated Good or Outstanding, and the closest is N.L.A Care Limited, under 0.5 miles away.
11 of the 16 nearest rated agencies have a more recent rating than this one.
It sits in Old Harlow ward, classed by ONS as urban (nearer to a major town or city), among the 50% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Essex ICB.
The registered provider
Helping Hands Harlow is run by Midshires Care Limited (company 03959933), incorporated in 2000, 19 years before this service registered with CQC.
At Companies House, the company is listed as active, its accounts are filed on time, it has 6 active directors and there is no insolvency history.
Its registered business activity is social work without accommodation for older and disabled people (which includes home care).
Midshires Care Limited runs 150 CQC-registered services across 100 council areas; 130 of the 133 with a rating are Good or Outstanding (98%), against 88% for the same mix of services across England.
8 of its services are in Essex.
It trades under the Midshires Care Ltd brand, which covers 150 services run by 1 registered provider.
Budgeting for this agency
We estimate visits from Helping Hands Harlow at £28.50–£35 an hour (visiting care, weekdays), based on published prices in the region (Helping Hands publishes rates a little below the national median, plus a travel charge). As an example, an hour each morning and a 30-minute evening call comes to about £330 a week.
For live-in care, expect around £1,380–£1,680 a week in this region.
With savings below £23,250, Essex Council may contribute once it has carried out a free needs assessment.
Earlier inspections
- Oct 2021
- Today Rating 5 years old
Every overall rating on record for this location, earliest first.
CQC documents
- CQC inspection report 7 October 2021
Finding it
- Ward
- Old Harlow
- Council
- Essex County Council · paying for care
- Parliamentary constituency
- Harlow
- Integrated care board
- NHS Essex Integrated Care Board
- Area classification
- Urban: nearer to a major town or city
- Neighbourhood deprivation
- Among the 50% least deprived areas in England
- Postcode district
- Home care in CM17 (5)
Larger map · Directions · Base map © OpenStreetMap
Ward, NHS area and deprivation from ONS and NHS postcode data (postcodes.io, Open Government Licence). This is the agency's office; care is delivered in people's own homes around it.
Reading Helping Hands Harlow's CQC ratings
Area by area, Well-led is rated below Good; 4 other areas are Good.
Across Essex, 57 of 312 rated agencies are Requires improvement for Well-led (18%).
If you are considering it, read the Well-led section of the report first and ask what has changed since the inspection.
Safe, effective, caring, responsive, well-led
- Safe271 of 312 in Essex
- Effective290 of 311 in Essex
- Caring291 of 311 in Essex
- Responsive292 of 311 in Essex
- Well-led57 of 312 in Essex
Source: CQC, published 7 October 2021. Under each rating: how many agencies in Essex share it.
Family reviews
There are no reviews of Helping Hands Harlow yet. If you know the service, your experience could help someone else.
Reviews are separate from CQC ratings. We verify the reviewer's email and never let providers remove reviews. How reviews work.
How Helping Hands Harlow compares
- Rated Good. Across Essex, 90% of the 310 rated home care agencies are Good or Outstanding and 12 are Outstanding.
- Its rating (October 2021) is more recent than 41% of agency ratings in Essex.
- Registered with CQC in 2020: it has been registered longer than 57% of home care agencies in the area.
- It lists 7 specialisms with CQC; the typical agency in Essex lists 6.
- Areas CQC rated below Good: Well-led (18% of home care agencies in Essex are also rated below Good here). Ask the provider what has changed since.
Based on the CQC register for Essex as at Oct 2026.
Other agencies close by
Guides for families
Other home care agencies near Harlow with recent ratings
- Care Just 4UNov 2024 · 1.0 miles
- Violet Care Agency LtdJun 2025 · 1.6 miles
- St Elizabeth's Domiciliary Care AgencyJul 2025 · 4.3 miles
What families ask about Helping Hands Harlow
- How much does Helping Hands Harlow charge?
- Helping Hands Harlow has not published its fees with us. Visiting care typically costs around £32–£34 an hour (typical 2026 prices across England). Request a written quote and check what is charged on top.
- Is Helping Hands Harlow rated well for safety?
- CQC rates five key questions. For Helping Hands Harlow: Safe: Good; Effective: Good; Caring: Good; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Requires improvement. Safe and Well-led are the two to read first in the report.
- What services is Helping Hands Harlow registered for?
- Helping Hands Harlow is registered for homecare agencies. Ask which of these it provides at the moment.
- Who runs Helping Hands Harlow?
- On CQC's register the provider is Midshires Care Limited.
- Does Helping Hands Harlow support people with dementia?
- Yes. Dementia is one of the specialisms on its CQC registration. Ask how many carers or staff have dementia training.
- When was Helping Hands Harlow last inspected?
- The latest rating is dated 7 October 2021, 5 years ago; ask whether there have been changes since.
- What is Helping Hands Harlow's address?
- Its office is at 40 High Street, Harlow, CM17 0DW. Carers travel to people's homes, so check it covers your street.
- Is Helping Hands Harlow a registered provider?
- Registered, yes: location 1-8485523126 on the Care Quality Commission register, listed as a home care agency and was rated Good overall in October 2021.
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Information: Care Quality Commission, Oct 2026 (Open Government Licence v3.0). Sections in the provider's own words are theirs; we compiled everything else from public data. The Care Panel is independent and not a care provider.