Direct Payments Factsheet
B9: Training personal assistants
If you choose to hire your own Personal Assistants (PAs), your support plan or your Direct Payment Advisor can guide you in detailing the steps needed to become a responsible employer. This includes any necessary training for you and your staff.
It's crucial to ensure that any staff you hire can perform the tasks you require without risking injury to themselves or you. Therefore, it is especially important for you and your staff to understand the implications of any moving and handling tasks they are expected to perform.
Insurance companies will only pay out if your PA is trained in moving and handling by a qualified trainer. It’s crucial to understand the implications in case of a claim.
As an employer, you are required to provide your staff with proper instruction, information, training, and supervision. Health and safety legislation mandates that employers with 5 or more staff must legally provide training.
We strongly recommend identifying your own training needs so you can offer formal guidance and training to your PAs. The Direct Payment Support Service can advise on this and provide information about suitable training options. We also suggest that you and your PAs attend the identified training courses together, some of which may be available in a home setting.
If your PA hasn’t yet completed training, you’ll need to consider courses based on the tasks they’ll be performing. Some essential courses include:
- Moving and Handling
- First Aid
- Infection Control
- Food Hygiene
- Health care tasks
- Administration of Medication
- Health and Safety
These courses will help to ensure your PA is well prepared and can safely carry out their duties. You might also want to consider specialist courses like:
- Dementia Awareness
- Autism
- Diabetes, etc.
For more advice on your PA training needs, please contact your Direct Payments Advisor. Additionally, Skills for Care offers useful information on training for personal assistants:
Support for individual employers and PAs
Please follow the links below for further information on funding and other resources available from Skills for Care:
- Benefits of employing a personal assistant
- Recruiting a personal assistant
- Before your personal assistant starts
- Managing your personal assistant
- Training and qualifications
- Sorting out problem
The Workforce Development Fund can help with training costs. For more information visit the Skills for Care website.
To access the funding, employers must register basic details about themselves and their PAs on the National Minimum Data Set for Social Care. Local partnerships or a telephone support service can assist with this.
The fund, provided by the Department of Health and managed by Skills for Care, supports the professional development of staff in the adult social care by funding qualification units.
For more information, you can visit the Skills for Care website.
