Choose your carer is an online service that aims to help people looking for care find the right carer for them within their local community.   Care seekers use the carers section to view carer profiles, which provides the carers expertise, areas they work and pay rate.  Only carers who have been through a successful interview process, had their qualifications and references checked and provided evidence of having an up to date DBS (Disclosure Bureau Service) will be able to go on our website.  Carers will be interviewed by qualified social workers who are registered with HCPC (The Health and Care Professions Council). We also ask care seekers or those sourcing the care to undertake their own checks.

Use the carers section to search through carer profiles, which includes their expertise and areas they work in.    Care seekers are able to see carers delivery of service, via client feedback, received by the carer, which is uploaded to carer profiles.  This may be not on all profiles due to a number of reasons, including they are awaiting to start a contract, via our service.

You choose your own carer however, if you feel that you require some help please contact us to discuss this further, but you will need to make the final decision on the carer you choose.

If you are not in urgent need of a carer Choose your carer recommends that you meet the carer in the first instance to decide if they are the right for you or your loved one. Where urgent care is needed, you may not meet the carer until the first care call.  Choose your carer is happy to offer advice if needed but you make the final decision on the carer.

Carers set their own rates based on their expertise and you can find this on their profile. All carers work on a self-employed basis and will have to cover their own expenses including travelling costs.  Pay rates start from £10 ph.  An ongoing introduction fee for the life of the contract is also due to Choose your carer, this also covers administration and pay system costs.

Payment for care is paid in advance and held in a secure third party account, the carer is paid at end of contract or if the contract is ongoing then they will be paid on a monthly basis.  Payment for care must be paid in advance before contract starts and is held in a secure third party account.  Any payment offered outside of the payment system for care  is a breach of our conditions,  conditions which you agree to by using the service.  Please refer to our terms and conditions.

Choose your carer will pay the carer via the payment system their stated rate.   Any payment offered or requested outside of the payment system for care  is a breach of our conditions,  conditions which you agree to by using the service.  Please refer to our terms and conditions.  We ask parties to contact us of any such request.

No, all carers are paid via a third party payment service and doing so would breach our terms and conditions and impact on the carer continuing to maintain ongoing work through the Choose your carer service. The third party payment service enables a secure method of payment, enabling reassurance in case of any dispute.  Please be aware that offering a carer payment directly or payments made directly outside of our payment service will result in the carer being removed from the Choose your carer online service.  One of the aims of the service is to enable Carers to find local work, and develop a reputation for their services via their profile feedback from clients, on our website, which evidences their credibility for work, breaching terms and conditions jeopardises these efforts. Choose your Carer offers carers the opportunity to access flexible, local work, and receive a wage that reflects their expertise, breaching terms and conditions jeopardises this.  Please refer to our terms and conditions.

Payment is made in advance before care commences, if this is an ongoing contract then payments will be made monthly, if you require care for a set amount of time, less than a month then payment for that period is also paid in advance.  Payment is via a secure third party payment system.

Contracts can be anything from one hour (which is the minimum contract time) to a few hrs, days, weeks or ongoing.  You can also have more than one contract ongoing with different carers.

Yes, you can use the number of carers you need to cover the care that you require.  Or you may just need an additional carer to cover holidays, you can find all our carers under the carer tab on the website.  For each carer you will need to have a separate contract in place for their work to commence.

We recommend to our carers that they obtain and maintain public liability insurance, however, there is not a statutory requirement for a self-employed carer to have carers personal liability insurance.  If you would prefer insurance to be in place before a carer starts work for you then we will see that this is in place before the contract commences.

Choose your carer will check all carers ID, qualifications and perform enhanced background checks (DBS) and qualifications. They will also go through a 2 stage interview process.  Interviews will be undertaken by qualified Social Workers who have a background in Adult Social Care and some will also have had experience in Learning Disabilities and Mental Health.  We trust that all information provided by the carers is correct and we check references where we are able to.  We advise that you can ask for information, to enable you to check yourself.

Choose your carer is not registered with the Quality Care Commission.  Choose your carer is an introductory agency which introduces carers and those seeking care.   According to regulatory guidelines published by the Care Quality Commission, “introductory agencies” who impose no control over ongoing care provision, but introduce carers and provide other ancillary services to facilitate a carer/care seeker relationship, have no statutory requirement to register with the CQC. 

This means that Choose your carer is unable to control the delivery of the care by the carer, including changes to visits, back up rotas and monitoring of individual carer performance.  Choose your carer does however, provide a service that allows all those receiving care the ability to monitor all carers provision of care and provide feedback to carer.   Self-employed care workers who provide personal care also have no requirement to be registered with the CQC providing the services offered do not extend beyond personal care.

For further information please visit http://www.cqc.org.uk/ and refer to the The scope of registration: March 2015 document.

Please let Choose your Carer know straight away if you are not happy with any aspect of your care, we take any concerns seriously and will respond immediately.  In the first instance we will seek to identify with you what is not working and discuss with you if you feel this is a breach of your contract and if you still wish to continue to employ the carer.  Any ongoing contract (no end date) can be cancelled at any time, if there is a breach of contract.  If there is not a breach of contract, a weeks’ notice is requested.  

As an introductory service we impose no control over the care delivery and this is between you and the carer. We ask an agreed contract from both parties  be in place before care commences.  All our carers are self-employed and set their own rates and offer the hours that they’re available to work. This means carers can be paid at a rate that offers them a living wage but can also keep care affordable for you.

Any ongoing contract (no end date) can be cancelled at any time if there is a breach of contract, if there is not a breach of contract, a weeks’ notice is requested.  All carers are self-employed and this enables them some notice to find alternative work.