Find a personal assistant (PA)
What is a PA?
A PA is employed by someone who needs social care, either because of their age or disability, to enable them to live as independently as possible. This could include helping with shopping, household tasks, support to access community resources like the library as well as community activities and leisure facilities.
A PA can also help with personal care such as bathing and getting dressed. PAs can be employed by individuals who receive NHS funding via a personal health budget, and who require support meeting their health and wellbeing needs.
Please be aware that PAs listed on this website are not employed by Devon County Council. A PA will either be employed by an individual who requires support or will be self-employed. The PAs on this site have not been checked or endorsed by Devon County Council.
Recruiting a PA
You may not think of yourself as an employer but if you employ your own PA using a direct payment, your own money, a personal care or health budget or other means, that’s exactly what you are.
It is the responsibility of the employer to follow a recruitment process and be satisfied that a PA is competent and capable to carry out the tasks required and to check the credentials of their Personal Assistant.
Please be aware that individuals funded by NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (Personal Health Budget) are not able to have self-employed PAs, all PAs must have ‘employed’ status.
If you receive funding from NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (personal health budget), Plymouth City Council, or Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, please ensure you contact them with any queries and adhere to their individual terms and conditions.
Anyone considering employing a PA should take steps to make sure that the PA has all the necessary paperwork before they are employed. We encourage employers to seek a minimum of two references from a PA and ask for proof of:
- right to work in the UK
- any relevant training and qualifications
- HMRC confirmation of registration as self-employed
- liability insurance if the worker is self-employed
- a current DBS check
Do you need help finding a PA?
Are you looking to find a PA to support you, or a family member or friend at home?
We have created an online ‘PA shout out’ form that will support you with this process. The form is quick and easy to complete, it will ask you what type of care or support you are looking for, in which area of Devon and what skills or qualities are required for the position.
Once you have submitted this information, an anonymised advert will be created on your behalf and will be automatically sent out to PAs registered on the PA Network. PAs who are interested in your advert will respond direct to the contact details that you have submitted.
You can also download a spreadsheet file of personal assistants in Devon. These were previously listed on the Pinpoint (PA Network) website which was decommissioned on 1 January 2024.
We are evolving our approach to providing this information – for now, this is available by downloading the information in spreadsheet format. Once opened, you may want to search within the files by area or name. We appreciate this is not ideal – improvements will be introduced in 2024.
See our FAQs for more information and guidance about employing a PA
