Personal Assistants (PAs)

Personal Assistants

A Personal Assistant (PA) is employed by a service user to help them enjoy as independent a life as possible in their local community. A PA does this by delivering support at a time and in a manner that meets the user's wishes.

 

Support will mean different things to different service users. For instance, it may involve:

 

• Support with personal care ( washing and dressing, meals etc)
• Support in the home ( household issues, liasing with benefit agencies, etc)
• Support to get out and about in their local community
• Support at a venue ( community venues)

 

The People's Services Department of St.Helens Council recognises that a PA undertaking this role may need training to carry out what can be a demanding yet fufilling role. Accordingly, the People's Services Department offers access to its range of training programmes for social care staff.

 

PA's who support recipients of a Personal Budgets or Direct Payments from St.Helens Council can access training courses  free of charge.

 

Social Care TV

Social Care TV is a new online service from the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). it is for everyone involved in the social care sector. It aims to highlight the work and lives of people involved in all aspects of social care, through a series of films on current social care issues covering adults, children and families.

 

The films are linked to guidance and advice, multimedia programmes and e-learning resources.

 

The online nature of Social Care TV means you can choose what to watch when you want to watch it. You can search for programmes by subject area or take a look at the 'pick of the day' for new suggestions.

 

View Personalisation case studiesat Social Care TV at: http://www.scie.org.uk/socialcaretv/topic.asp?guid=2f0831a5-48f6-473b-aafa-a2896f094904

 

Social Institute for Excellence Resource
Personalisation - Briefing for Personal Assistants

 

For a full range of training opportunities, please see the Training Calendar and Training Programmes a-z search on the Home page.

  

For further information please contact Caroline Ashton or Julie Aspinall on 01744 671778 or a member of the Adult Social Care Training Team on 01744 676847

 

Care Training Code: A guide for individuals buying in training for their own staff. This guide has been designed by Skills for Care to help anyone who may need to buy in training for their own staff, such as a Personal Assistant or supported. It provides an overview of the core values which should form the basis  of social care training and development. The code also provides questions and issues that should be thought about when purchasing training and development.