The short answer
- Personal care means help with physical, everyday tasksWashing, dressing, using the toilet, moving around safely and eating are the core of it, not medical treatment and not company alone.
- Carers are checked before they appear in search, not trained by PrimeCarersIdentity, the right to work and an enhanced DBS check on the Update Service are confirmed, and every carer has an online interview.
- It is charged by the visit, not as a fixed weekly packageCarers on PrimeCarers charge £18 to £25 an hour with our fee included, and you book as often or as rarely as your parent needs.
- If confusion, disability or nights are the bigger issue, a different page fits betterPersonal care is one part of home care. This page helps you work out whether it is the part your parent needs.
Figures on this page are what carers on PrimeCarers charge, £18 to £25 an hour with our fee included. Agencies charge £28 to £35 an hour for the same visit.
What personal care means
What counts as personal care, and what doesn't
Personal care is a specific term, not a general word for looking after somebody. It sits between two other kinds of help, and knowing where the lines fall makes it easier to ask for the right thing.
The Care Quality Commission, which regulates care services in England, defines personal care as help with the physical parts of daily life that somebody cannot manage alone because of old age, illness or disability. In practice that means washing, dressing, using the toilet, moving around safely and eating, done for or with a person rather than instead of them wherever they can still take part.
Company and domestic help
- Cleaning and laundry
- Shopping and errands
- Cooking a meal
- Conversation and company
A companionship carer or domestic help. No physical, hands-on care involved.
Personal care
- Washing, bathing and grooming
- Dressing and undressing
- Toileting and continence care
- Mobility and transfers
- Eating, drinking and medication support
A personal carer, checked before they appear in search and experienced in doing this with dignity and privacy.
Nursing and clinical care
- Wound dressings and injections
- Catheter and stoma care
- Monitoring a complex health condition
A district nurse or other clinical professional, not a personal carer.
The three groups blur a little at the edges, and that is normal. A carer booked for personal care will usually also do some light tasks around a visit, such as making the bed or a cup of tea, but cleaning the whole house or doing the weekly shop on its own is domestic help rather than personal care, closer to what companionship care covers, where the line between light housekeeping and cleaning is drawn in the same way. At the other edge, anything clinical, a wound dressing, an injection, or monitoring a health condition that needs specific training, sits with the district nursing team or another clinical professional rather than a personal carer. If your parent's needs are closer to that end, complex care sets out what to look for instead.
The tasks involved
The everyday tasks a personal carer helps with
Six areas make up most personal care visits. A carer plans a visit around whichever of these your parent needs, rather than doing all of them every time.
Washing, bathing and grooming
Dressing and undressing
Toileting and continence care
Mobility and transfers
Eating and drinking
Medication support
Which of these a carer does, and how much of it your parent still manages themselves, is worth agreeing before the first visit and writing down somewhere the carer can refer back to, along with whether they would rather a woman or a man did the intimate parts. What does a day of personal care look like? walks through how these tasks usually fit into a morning call, a lunch visit and an evening call.
Who does it
Who provides personal care, and how carers are checked
Personal care can come from a family member, a self-employed carer found through an introductory service such as PrimeCarers, or an agency that employs carers directly. Each works differently, and it changes who is responsible for what.
PrimeCarers is an introductory service. It helps you find and check a self-employed carer, rather than employing carers itself or managing the care they go on to provide, and it is not registered with the Care Quality Commission. Before a carer appears in a search, this is confirmed.
Checked before a carer appears in search
- The carer's identity, confirmed against official documents
- The right to work in the UK
- An enhanced DBS check, kept current on the Update Service
- An online interview with every carer
Not checked by PrimeCarers
- Qualifications or training courses a carer has completed
- References, which sit on a carer's own profile rather than being checked by PrimeCarers
- A carer's driving licence or car insurance, worth asking about directly if lifts are part of the job
A carer's experience, training and references are things to ask about directly and to look for on their own profile, rather than something PrimeCarers verifies on your behalf. How we vet every carer sets out the checks above in full.
What it costs
What personal care costs, by the hour and by the week
Personal care is usually booked and charged by the visit rather than as a fixed weekly package, so the cost depends on how many visits your parent needs.
£18–£25
an hour on PrimeCarers, with our fee included
£28–£35
an hour through a traditional agency for the same visit
£126–£175
a week for one hour-long visit every day
£1,050+
a week for live-in care, worth comparing once visits pass about 35 hours a week
One morning visit a day, seven days a week, comes to about £126 to £175 a week on PrimeCarers. How many visits a week does my parent need? turns the tasks above into a number of visits and a weekly figure. If your parent has less than £23,250 in savings, council funding may cover some or all of it, and it is free to ask for a care needs assessment before ruling it out.
Is it right for you
Deciding whether personal care is the right fit
Personal care is the right starting point when the difficulty is physical: getting up, washed, dressed, to the toilet or fed safely. When something else is driving the need for help, a different page will serve your parent better.
| Where to look next | |
|---|---|
| Confusion, memory loss or a dementia diagnosis is part of the picture | Dementia care |
| The need comes from a physical disability rather than ageing | Personal care for disabled adults |
| Company and conversation matter more than physical help right now | Companionship care |
| Nights need covering as well as the day | Overnight care |
| You are not yet sure whether the signs add up to a need for care | Evaluating the need for a personal carer |
| Getting up, washed, dressed, to the toilet or fed is what is becoming hard | Personal care, covered on this page, is the right starting point. |
Confusion, memory loss or a dementia diagnosis is part of the picture
- Where to look next
- Dementia care
The need comes from a physical disability rather than ageing
- Where to look next
- Personal care for disabled adults
Company and conversation matter more than physical help right now
- Where to look next
- Companionship care
Nights need covering as well as the day
- Where to look next
- Overnight care
You are not yet sure whether the signs add up to a need for care
- Where to look next
- Evaluating the need for a personal carer
Getting up, washed, dressed, to the toilet or fed is what is becoming hard
- Where to look next
- Personal care, covered on this page, is the right starting point.
These are not fixed categories, and needs often combine more than one of them. Talking to your loved ones about hiring a personal carer has advice on raising the idea for the first time, once you have decided personal care is likely to help.
Getting started
How to turn this into the first visit
Four steps, and the first two do not cost anything.
- 1
Work out which tasks your parent needs help with
TodayUse the list above to note which of the six areas apply now, and roughly how often. The needs-to-hours guide turns that into a number of visits and a weekly cost. - 2
Search personal carers near you
FreeEvery profile shows a carer's rate, experience and availability, and every carer has been through the checks set out above before they appear. - 3
Talk to two or three carers
This weekDescribe the tasks and ask how they would approach the ones you are most concerned about, such as washing or medication. - 4
Book the first visit, then adjust
Week oneStart with the visit you are most sure of and add others once the carer has seen how it goes. Visits can be changed at any time; there is no fixed package to renegotiate.
Questions
Questions families ask about personal care
Home care is the broader term for any care given in somebody's own home. Personal care is one part of it, specifically the physical, hands-on tasks: washing, dressing, toileting, mobility and eating. The same visit often includes some light domestic help too, such as making a bed or a hot drink, but a visit built entirely around cleaning or company is domestic help or companionship care rather than personal care.
Personal care covers the physical tasks of daily living. Anything clinical, such as a wound dressing, an injection, or monitoring a complex health condition, is nursing care and sits with a district nurse or another clinical professional rather than a personal carer. Complex care covers what to look for when needs go beyond personal care.
It can, and it ranges from a simple reminder through to physically helping your parent take their tablets. Which one applies should be agreed and written into the care plan before the first visit rather than assumed on the day. A day in the life of a personal carer covers how this usually works in practice.
Carers on PrimeCarers charge £18 to £25 an hour with our fee included, against £28 to £35 an hour through a traditional agency for the same visit. One visit a day, seven days a week, comes to about £126 to £175 a week. Past about 35 hours a week, live-in care is worth comparing.
No. You can arrange a personal carer privately at any point, without an assessment first. A council care needs assessment is free and worth asking for regardless, since it can open the door to funding as well as giving an independent view of what your parent needs. How to ask for one.
Every carer has their identity and right to work confirmed, an enhanced DBS check kept current on the Update Service, and an online interview before they appear in a search. Qualifications, training and references are not checked by PrimeCarers; carers list these on their own profile. How we vet every carer has the full list.
That reaction is common, especially at first, and it usually eases as your parent gets used to the carer. A carer experienced in personal care will knock, explain what they are about to do before doing it, and cover what does not need to be uncovered. You can also ask for a carer of a particular gender if that would help. Adjusting to having a personal carer has more on settling in during the first few weeks.