Personal Assistant Service

A ‘one-stop shop’ to help you take control

A personal assistant (PA) is someone who helps a person who needs care, or help to perform their daily living tasks, in their own home. The PA must be reliable, have patience and empathy and have an understanding of the person’s care needs. The role can include helping with tasks such as cleaning, cooking and shopping or assisting with more personal care such as bathing and dressing. Some roles may require special nursing skills and the ability to teach someone how to be more independent is also important.

For many of us, having control of our care is vital to retaining our independence and enables us to continue living at home as we get older. Many people paying for their care or having direct funding from the local authorities to pay for their care are choosing to hire personal assistants to support them.

This service has been launched to help you make the most of your care support and to take the worry out of making important decisions about your day-to-day life.

How we can help you:

To access our staff database in order to find a suitable PA yourself
We can help you to recruit, employ and manage your PAs
We can recruit and manage your PAs for you

Service options

Option 1:  Service Management

We recognise that recruiting PAs and managing your own care can be daunting or overwhelming. We can ease your worries by directly managing your services.

We will:

• Match your PA according to your needs & lifestyle
• Manage every area of your service
• Train & provide ongoing training for your PA
• Monitor and review the care delivered to you
• Change your PA if you are not happy

Option 2: Introduction Service

This will enable you to employ and manage your own personal assistant(s). You will be required to:

• Make contact to discuss your needs and requirements.
• We only act as an introduction Service; we do not recommend or endorse any carer.
• All workers will have their references checked, as well as a DBS (formerly CRB) check performed by ourselves.
• Under this option, as an employer, you would take full control of the process of recruiting, hiring and providing on-going training and development support for your PA.

*We will discharge our duty following the above. There is a charge for this service.

Option 3: Recruitment service

In recruiting your PA for you, Circle of Care can:

• Support you with your job description and personal specification
• Support you with your interview process
• Help you to devise your support plan
• Help to develop your contract of employment
• Undertake a risk assessment for you and make a referral for specialist support, if required
• Link you with our payroll and accounts service, if required

*We will discharge our duty following the above. There is a charge for this service.

Option 4: Respite and emergency service

Under this option, we will provide an alternative PA in the event of your PA or family carer having to take emergency leave (it is advisable to include this service in your contingency plan).

• This service can be for any length of time, i.e. a day, week or month, depending on your situation and needs.
• You can make this arrangement in advance.
• A’ rolling’ respite service can be arranged when your family carer takes a break.
• We will do our best to find a suitable PA to meet your needs.