Agency Care vs Personal Assistants

If you need help with care or support at home, you may be wondering whether to use a care agency or hire a Personal Assistant (PA) directly.

Both options can provide valuable support, but they work quite differently.

A care agency manages the care arrangement for you, while hiring a private PA gives you more direct control over who supports you, when they work and how your support is provided.

So which is better?

The answer depends on how much choice, flexibility and responsibility you want.

Agency Care vs Private PAs at a glance

What is the difference between an agency and a private PA?

When you use a care agency, you are paying the agency to arrange and manage your care. The agency recruits the workers, handles their employment and usually manages rotas, cover and other administration.

With a private PA, you find and arrange support directly with the person providing it. This means you have more control over who supports you and how your support works.

Skills for Care describes employing your own PA as a way to gain greater choice and control over your care, including deciding when, where and how support is delivered.

Is hiring a private PA cheaper?

It can be.

When you use an agency, the price you pay covers more than the worker's wages. The agency also needs to cover its recruitment, management, administration, insurance and other operating costs.

When you employ a PA directly, more of your available funding can go towards paying the person who actually provides your support. This can mean that you are able to offer a PA a more attractive rate while still spending less overall than you would through an agency.

For example, if you receive a Direct Payment, you may be able to use it to employ your own PA rather than paying an agency to arrange your care. The NHS specifically notes that Direct Payments can give people more control over their support and that using an agency can cost more.

If you're interested in the numbers, see How Much Should I Pay My Personal Assistant?.

More choice over who supports you

One of the biggest advantages of hiring a private PA is that you choose the person. You can look for someone whose experience, personality, interests and availability suit you. This can be particularly important when your PA provides personal care or spends a significant amount of time with you.

With an agency, you may not always have control over which member of staff comes to your home. Staff availability can also change over time. With your own PA team, you can build longer-term working relationships with people you trust.

Skills for Care highlights that employing your own PAs can provide more consistent and flexible support, while giving you the opportunity to build trusting relationships with your PA(s).

More flexibility

A private PA arrangement can also be built around your life, rather than fitting your life around an agency's rota. You can agree the hours that work for both of you and discuss things such as evenings, weekends, holidays and changes to your routine directly with your PA. This can be particularly useful if you work, study, travel frequently or have a less predictable routine.

You can also employ more than one PA and create your own team to provide cover.

What are the disadvantages of hiring a private PA?

The biggest difference is that you take on more responsibility.

If you employ a PA, you may need to deal with contracts, payroll, holiday entitlement, pensions, insurance and other employer responsibilities. You'll also need to recruit your own PAs and arrange cover if someone is unavailable.

This might sound daunting, but there is support available. Skills for Care provides an Employing Personal Assistants toolkit with guidance and resources covering recruitment, employment and managing PAs.

If you're considering employing your own PA, our guide Is Employing Your Own PA Right for You? goes into more detail.

What about emergencies and sickness?

This is one area where agencies can have an advantage. If an agency worker is unavailable, the agency will generally be responsible for arranging a replacement. If you employ your own PA, you'll need to think about how you'll manage sickness, holidays and unexpected gaps in your support.

Having more than one PA can make this much easier. You can also build a small team so that no single person is responsible for all of your support.

Our guide to Finding Emergency Cover has more ideas for managing unexpected gaps.

Which option is right for you?

A care agency might be the better choice if you want someone else to handle recruitment, employment and day-to-day management and you're happy to have less control over who provides your support. Hiring your own PA may be a better fit if you want more choice, flexibility, consistency and control over your support.

There isn't a right answer for everyone. For many people, the ability to choose their own PA and build a support arrangement around their life makes employing a PA well worth the additional responsibility.

Ready to find your own PA?

If you've decided that a private PA could be right for you, the next step is finding someone who fits your needs.

PA Pool allows you to create a client profile and search for Personal Assistants directly.

You can also read The Complete Guide to Hiring a Personal Assistant in the UK for help with the recruitment process, or How Can You Pay for a Personal Assistant? to explore your funding options.