How to Find a Private Carer? The Top Websites to Use in 2024

You can find a private carer in two ways: by advertising your job role, e.g., through classified ads boards, newspapers, or social media. Secondly, you can use an introductory service that can match you with a pre-vetted carer.

Why Find a Private Carer?

A private carer is different from traditional agency care in that you employ your carer directly and don’t contract a CQC (Care Quality Commission) registered care agency that employs the carer.

This brings with it lots of benefits and some cons. The main benefits are lower prices and control over your care. The negatives are that the responsibility for vetting your carers, managing payments/expenses, and organising holiday cover fall on your shoulders.

As long as you’re willing to take on these responsibilities, it’s time to begin searching for the perfect carer for you.

Where to Find a Private Carer?

Introductory Services

An introductory service, like PrimeCarers, has a database of pre-vetted private carers that you can search and filter to match your needs. Once you’ve found a carer you like the look of, you can chat with and book these carers via the introductory service.

Introductory services are funded by a fee charged to carers when employed via the platform. This means that care can cost 5%-20% more than when you run your own search and vetting process, but it does provide extra reassurance that your carer has the skills and is safe to work with.

Introductory services also usually offer additional support to help you cover sick leave and holiday leave and resolve any disagreements that might arise between you and your carer.

Top Introductory Services:

• PrimeCarers
• Elder
• Curam Care
• Country Cousins
• Guardian Carers

The Local Newspaper

If you’re not so tech-savvy but still want to recruit your own carer, then the old-fashioned newspaper is still a viable option for finding a private carer. Plenty of private carers keep an eye on their local paper for opportunities. You might not have the largest selection of carers, and you will still need to vet them yourself, but it’s a pretty cost-effective way to find a carer for you.

Online Classified Ads

Online classified ads contain everything, stuff, houses, jobs and those looking for a private carer. There are plenty of national and local sites you can try to find a carer with.

Just post up a job advert with what you’re looking for and you’ll get plenty of offers. Some sites you can consider are:

• gumtree.com
• preloved.co.uk
• wightbay.com (Isle of Wight only)

Care Specific Job Boards

Unlike an introductory service, these websites don’t engage in any carer vetting, but they offer more targeted classified ads for carers. Post your job up and then wait for carers to start contacting you.

There are plenty of these sites available but some of the most popular include:

• papool.co.uk
• care.com
• findaprivatecarer.co.uk

Social Media – LinkedIn

An often overlooked tool for finding a carer is LinkedIn. Just sign up at linkedin.com and try searching for private carers. LinkedIn can be a little confusing to use; their connections system will only let you connect with people related to those you already know. It also limits your search options after a while to encourage you to purchase a paid subscription. That’s not to say that it’s useless though! There are plenty of private carers advertising on LinkedIn, so why not give it a go?

Social Media – Facebook

Facebook can be a great way to find a carer. You want to start by looking for a group specialising in job postings for carers. Plenty of them and often groups focused on particular parts of the country. With this method, you’ll probably have more success finding a live-in carer, as most carers are willing to travel longer distances for longer placements.

For hourly care or short visits, you may have fewer options available and of course, all vetting of the carers falls on your shoulders.

How to Write a Job Posting to Find a Private Carer?

Most introductory services will offer you a questionnaire to help match you with the perfect carer, but if you end up using a method that requires you to write your own job posting, then be specific about who you’re looking for by answering the following questions:

• Are you looking for an hourly or live-in carer?
• What schedule are you looking to fill, and how flexible are you?
• Do you need a man or woman, or don’t you mind?
• Do they need to speak a specific language?
• What experience should they have with the illnesses you need help with?
• Are there any special skills they need to have, e.g. PEG feeding or Stoma Care?
• Do they need to have a car or driving license?
• Do they need to be comfortable with pets?
• Will they need to do any housework or cleaning?
• What budget do you have, and what are you looking to spend?
• Are there any hobbies or interests you’d like them to have?

How to Background Check Your Private Carer?

You’ll need to check out the following four things in order to background check your carer.

1. Enhanced DBS Check

The government says this essential check must be completed before someone can be engaged as a private carer. You’re looking for someone with an enhanced DBS certificate on the update service or renewed within the last 6-12 months.

The Enhanced DBS certificate should be requested with either the adult barring list and/or the child barring list, depending on who they will be caring for. This extra check is applied to an enhanced DBS certificate showing that they have been approved to work with children and vulnerable adults.

2. Knowledge / Certificates

You want to ensure your carer is good at what they do. This can often be difficult to determine when you are not a carer yourself. Checking if they have certificates for their training is an excellent place to start. Still, it’s also worth researching and developing other technical interview questions to test their knowledge.

Check out our guide to carer certifications.

3. ID and Right to Work

Checking that someone is who they say they are and that they have a right to work in the UK is an important step. You’ll want to match the ID documents they provided with the enhanced DBS certificate they provided and check if their documents give them a right to work in the UK. You can find out what constitutes a valid right to work by consulting this government guide.

4. References from previous employers

The final bit of due diligence you should do is ask for references from their previous employers. Make sure to ask your carer for contact details to verify the references.

In Summary

The method you use to find the right private carer for you will depend on your budget, urgency, and willingness to do your own leg work. You might need to try multiple sources if you’re looking for someone specific.

I hope that you’ve found this breakdown useful and that you find the right carer for you. If you are looking for a carer or need some additional support choosing a carer, call our team at 0203 369 3624 or search and contact our database of vetted carers today.