Becoming a personal assistant in Rutland

What is a personal assistant?

A personal assistant (PA) is a paid worker who provides support for children and adults with care and support needs. Personal assistants help people to develop skills, be as independent as practicably possible and be active in their community. Personal assistants can support with a wide range of tasks, this list is not exhaustive, and each person has individual needs which may be detailed in their support plans.

Tasks may include:

• social inclusion – supporting children and adults to go out in the local community, take part in activities, visit places and support independence
• meal preparation – supporting with making or heating a meal
• personal Care – washing and dressing, toileting

What skills do you need to become a personal assistant?

The key skills to being a good personal assistant are patience, understanding, listening to the needs of others and flexibility in your approach. Personal assistants can be directly employed by the service user / family or can be self-employed. If you would like any further information regarding this please contact the Direct Payment support worker – 01572 720958.

Becoming a personal assistant in Rutland

To have your details placed on Rutland County Council's Personal Assistant Finder you need to complete a short application form where we request 2 referees, one of these would be from your current employer. 

We need you to have a current enhanced DBS Certificate which is transferrable. If you do not have this in place we are able to process this for you at a cost. 

We would like you to have up to date safeguarding training and any other training that is relevant to the person that you will be supporting. If you do not have this in place we can help you to find the relevant training. Most personal assistants are self employed and so must have public liability insurance in place before working – there are specialist policies available.

Once you have received your DBS Certificate and we have received two satisfactory references we will add your name to the Personal Assistant Network. You can state that you wish to work with children and young people, adults or both. Families and adults who are looking for support will then contact you to discuss their needs and see if you could be the right person to provide their support. Once you have agreed to start working with a family or adult you should agree terms and conditions using a basic contract and make sure you understand their needs by talking to their family and asking to see any care plan in place. You will also need to get to know the needs of the person you are supporting and complete a risk assessment.

We hold meetings twice a year for all personal assistants registered with us. This is an opportunity to meet with staff from Rutland County Council and other PA s to discuss any ideas or concerns you may have and any training needs. For any further information regarding becoming a personal assistant please contact the Direct Payment support worker – 01572 720958