Do You Need a License to Be a Carer?

No, a license is not required to be a carer; However, most employers will require that you have or are working towards a care certificate. When working privately, it’s up to the patient.

How to Check a Private Carer: Your Step-by-Step Guide

Read Now

What to Look Out For?

Due to the extremely high demand for carers, some care agencies will recruit from overseas, give carers a few days of on-the-job training and send them out on their own. They may ask them to complete their care certificate in their spare time over the next 6 months.

Ask the following questions to the agencies you are considering:

1. How long is your basic carer training?
2. How many of your carers hold a care certificate or NVQ?
3. How many years of experience does your average carer have?

What Is the Care Certificate?

The care certificate is a set of standards designed to ensure that healthcare and social care workers in the UK have the necessary skills and knowledge to provide safe and compassionate care to individuals in various settings.

It was introduced in 2015 and covers communication, safeguarding, and person-centred care as a replacement for various older qualifications. The certificate is awarded to those who have completed the necessary training and assessment and is a requirement for many agencies.

While the care certificate is not a mandatory requirement to work in care, many agencies will use it to demonstrate to the CQC that they have met their basic training requirements.

How Do I Know I’m Getting a Well-Trained Carer?

When you work with a traditional care agency, it can be challenging to understand how qualified each carer is when they come through the door as carers can change, along with rotas and schedules. Even if you are satisfied with one carer, you may end up with someone less experienced the next day.

The best you can do is to quiz the agency on their practices, read reviews on the agency and review their CQC reports.

Another alternative is to explore hiring a private carer via an introductory service or directly. In this scenario, you can hire a seasoned and experienced carer directly without fear of her being swapped out for a less experienced individual later.

How Does Primecarers Check Carers?

At PrimeCarers, we don’t take on carers with less than one year of professional experience in the UK.

We perform a professional interview with highly experienced carers to verify they know what they are discussing, which goes beyond seeing their certifications.

Beyond this, all carers have an enhanced DBS, right-to-work checks processed, and references from previous employers/clients.

The final level of checking is done by the client themselves. We recommend booking a handful of visits so that you can monitor and check that the job is being done to your own satisfaction. You won’t be locked in, and if you don’t find the carer to be effective, you can leave a review on the individual to help build up the reputation of the carer.

We believe that every carer is an individual, and their skills, training, and empathy should be judged as an individual, not at an organisational level.

Conclusion

We hope this article has helped you answer your question about needing a carer license. If you want to see which private carers we have vetted near your location, enter your location at the top of this page to find out now.