Personal Care Assistant

Aims and Method of the Scheme

The Independent Living Scheme supports people with physical impairments to live independently in the community. Independence is defined as a state of mind. Thus making choices and exercising rights and responsibilities are viewed as an essential measure of independent living.

This scheme provides full-time Personal Assistants (PAs) who offer social support, Personal Care, and domestic assistance, at times convenient for the disabled person. The Personal Assistants take their direction from the service user and each user is normally supported by PAs who live nearby in a separate house provided for the PAs.

History

Croydon Social Services Department set up Croydon Independent Living Scheme in 1987 to enable disabled people to live independently in their own homes, rather than in residential homes. At its peak, the scheme paid living expenses and provided separate accommodation for forty volunteers to enable fifteen disabled people to live in the local area. The scheme operated very successfully for many years but closed when the volunteer model was enhanced.

Independent Living Alternatives (ILA) supported service users to start the ILS again. Service users are now encouraged to take on a more active role in managing their schemes. Users recruit their Personal Assistants, pay rewarding salaries, provide PAs with their own separate houses, and pay the bills for the accommodation.

A fully furnished two or three-bedroom house, to be shared with the other PAs supporting the same ILS user, is provided near to the service user's home. The Personal Assistants live in good quality, well-appointed accommodation in Purley, a leafy town in South London (CR8). The Personal Assistants each have their own separate bedroom and bathroom and there is a shared kitchen and lounge. The accommodation is within walking distance of Purley town centre and the train station, which has excellent links to central London and the coast, (with Victoria and London Bridge only 20 minutes away and Brighton 40 minutes away).

CILS pays the bills for the accommodation including the rent, electricity, water, council tax, broadband and television license. Personal Assistants are only expected to provide their own bed linen, towels etc. The budget for the rent and bills for each house is £200 per week per Personal Assistant. An additional salary of between £500 and £700 per week is paid to assist with your living expenses. This means that each Personal Assistant receives gross benefits worth between £700 and £900 per week (or the equivalent of between £36,400 and £46,800 per annum). The PAs don’t have to find their own accommodation or pay for the bills, which can be very expensive in London, and PAs can usually start work as soon as their training programme is completed.

Personal Assistants Role, Length of Service and Hours of Work

Full-time Personal Assistants are initially expected to offer at least a four, six or eight months’ commitment (and other contracts can be discussed at the interview stage).

Personal Assistants usually work a two-day on, two-day off rota system. The shift pattern alternates every other week (so PAs normally work; Wed & Thurs, Mon & Tues, then Fri, Sat, Sun, then Wed, Thurs, then Mon, Tues then Fri, Sat, Sun etc.) This shift pattern is popular because it means that PAs are paid a full-time salary, but they work only seven days out of every fourteen and they have every long weekend off. The shifts are also flexible, and changes can easily be made if both PAs agree.

Full-time Personal Assistants work a flexible shift each day that usually starts at about 9.00 a.m. and ends when the disabled person goes to bed in the evening. There are three meal breaks during the day, totalling 3 hours, and, unlike on many other schemes, Personal Assistants are not usually required to sleep over at the disabled person’s home.

Part-time Personal Assistants are paid £200+ a day when they work a set number of days a week or cover for holidays, sickness and training, so please state clearly on your application form whether you would like to work full-time (on the shift pattern outlined above) or only one, two, three days a week, and which days you are available.

During your "shift" you will support a disabled person with every aspect of their lives when they require physical assistance. This is likely to include Personal Care, such as washing and dressing, as well as help with cooking, going out to meet friends, going to the cinema or to sports events. The job can be varied because you'll be helping someone with all aspects of their life; you'll gain a valuable insight into what it is like living with an impairment and you’ll discover a lot about yourself.

The work requires patience, a sense of humour and the ability to see things from another person's perspective. Sometimes it will be busy and other times it will be quiet. The ILS is a unique opportunity to share the life of a disabled person, and you'll gain invaluable experience for yourself and for your future job prospects - because employers and course tutors highly value user-directed, hands-on, work-experience that you can talk about in interviews.

Another important feature of working for the Independent Living Scheme is Personal Assistants do not have to spend every hour of each shift in the company of the user they support. Users often require assistance at different times each day. To provide the Personal Assistants with the opportunity to get away from a user's home (and to allow users some privacy) the PA accommodation is nearby – so PAs can easily go there where they can be readily contacted, if required.

Furthermore, because the Personal Assistants only work 3 or 4 days per week, there is a lot of free time available. Some Personal Assistants use their days off to explore London or pursue their own leisure interests. Other PAs earn extra money by working additional shifts and, like the users, each PA is different, so it would be up to you to decide how you would like to spend your free time.

Place of Work

Will be at the home of the service user in Purley (CR8) or wherever the user is each day.

Previous Work Experience

No training or work experience is necessary, as a comprehensive training programme is provided.

Health and Safety

Personal Assistants are expected to have no current serious health problems and are expected to adhere to health and safety guidelines which will be explained as part of the initial induction process and will include wearing PPE that is provided, where appropriate.

Users on the ILS are encouraged to take control of their own lives, so we are looking for PAs who are flexible, patient, tolerant and sensitive to other people's needs. One of the disabled people on the scheme described the perfect PA as being 'someone who is comfortable and content with following instructions and will do everything possible not to intentionally or inadvertently alter the choices or individuality of the PA User'.

Personal Assistants should have excellent listening skills, with a good standard of spoken and written English. PAs should also be able to work as a member of a team and be prepared to share the accommodation provided with the other PA supporting the same user.

Other benefits we offer Personal Assistants

The Scheme is often a useful introduction to a career in Social Care, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, and other medical professions. The Independent Living Scheme could also benefit bright and enthusiastic young people unsure of a future career path or visitors from other countries who require somewhere to work and stay.

We provide five weeks+ paid holiday a year. Most Personal Assistants go into other full-time work or start post-graduate studies when they leave the ILS. Our references have been very useful in the past and will continue to be offered when required.

Views of the Scheme from a previous Personal Assistant

I encountered the ILS through one of its lavish advertising campaigns in "The Guardian" and promptly applied - what else could I do? I needed something to fill six months and I thought that I may as well give it a shot. I never regretted it.

The philosophy of the ILS is encouraging in a society which today seems oh-so happy to shove those who are disabled in any way - mentally or physically or through sheer lack of opportunity - out to manage on their own. Here I felt was a pocket of understanding. The disabled users on the scheme are obviously all for being out in the community (in fact sometimes it is hard to find a moment when they are not literally OUT - shopping, socialising, working, attending courses,' everything one would expect in an ordinary day-to-day routine). However, the users do need that extra help and that is where us "arms and legs" come in.

During my time in Croydon I worked on two schemes, both very different because of the different activities and lifestyles of the users. I worked with one young guy and a couple. I would hate to have to decide which was the most difficult and/or enjoyable, as both had so many diverse differences. What I can quite happily say is that being arms and legs is a worthwhile experience and a wholly rewarding one.

And, if you don't get the chance to do much that is exciting whilst on duty, London is only 15 minutes away by train on your days off. In fact, the South East is your Oyster!! S.C.

Selection Process

Please email completed application forms with 'CILS Completed Application Form' in the subject box to:

ilscroydon@yahoo.co.uk and simon.walls@hotmail.co.uk

1. Service Users short-list the prospective Personal Assistants from information given on the applications, so priority will be given to those who are able to email a completed form.

2. Shortlisted candidates are asked to attend an interview. This usually takes place at the nearest Employment Service (or the Service User’s home) and will be conducted by the Service User and a Personal Assistant on the scheme.

3. Offers are made to the successful candidates.

Due to budget constraints, it may not be possible to reply to all applicants. If applicants have not been called for interview within eight weeks of returning completed application forms, unfortunately, they should assume their applications have been unsuccessful this time.

There are full-time and part-time vacancies available. We will start interviews for these posts when completed applications are received, so we would be grateful if you could email your form back as soon as possible.

We also expect to have other vacancies throughout the year, so please state on your application when you will be available to start.

Many thanks,

Croydon Independent Living Scheme

Job Types: Permanent, Temporary contract, Fixed term contract, Temp to perm
Contract length: 6 - 8 months

Salary: £700.00-£900.00 per week

Benefits:

• Company pension

Schedule:

• Day shift

Work authorisation:

• United Kingdom (required)

Work Location: In person

Application deadline: 11/04/2024
Reference ID: CILS SW