Following a recent campaign Partners in Care has welcomed its first Personal Assistant Member. Michelle Hart has been a Personal Assistant for 12 years and is currently working with clients in the Church Stretton area. Her clients have different support needs, many living with Alzheimer's and Dementia with Michelle also offering respite care. Michelle says, “I really enjoy supporting my clients who live with dementia, and seeing the difference it makes to their life, as well as the family members caring for them”.
As an employee of a Direct Payment recipient, it can often be difficult for Personal Assistants to navigate the support and training available to help them carry out their job supporting individuals at home with their daily lives. Michelle has received training in the past but having seen the training Partners in Care offers is keen to take the opportunity to attend new courses to increase her knowledge and skills as well as join network meetings to engage and share best practice with others working in the sector.
Michelle says “I like to look for training I have not done before, anything new takes my interest. It’s great that Partners in Care include Personal Assistants in their offer, so we can network with others and be part of a team even when working independently”.
Partners in Care is a not-for-profit membership organisation representing approximately 260 independent Nursing, Residential, Supported Living and Domiciliary Care providers in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin and Cheshire. By becoming a member of Partners in Care it enables Personal Assistants access to all services offered including: high quality face-to-face and online training courses at a discounted rate, accurate, relevant, and up to date information service, via phone, email, social media, and web chat, the opportunity to network and work together to share information and ideas locally and gain access to Partners in Care’s Disclosure and Barring Service at a discounted rate (for employed Personal Assistants only).
Michelle says “I love working as a self-employed Personal Assistant in the community, supporting and encouraging clients with what they need day to day. However it can be lonely working as an independent Personal Assistant, so it’s good to be joined with Partners in Care, I see it as being included in the support system.”.
David Crosby, Chief Officer for Partners in Care said: “We are delighted to welcome Michelle as our first Personal Assistant member of Partners in Care. Partners in Care has been supporting adult social care providers for over 21 years but up to now has only accepted companies/organisations as members. We know that there are many hundreds of Personal Assistants working tirelessly across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Cheshire, supporting some of the most vulnerable members of our communities. We want to welcome more Personal Assistant as members and ensure they can access the range of information, support and training that we offer to improve the care they provide.”.
To find out more about becoming a member of Partners in Care as a Personal Assistant please visit Personal Assistants (partnersincare.org.uk) or email