NHS England are running a public consultation on Personal Health Budgets (PHB) and are hosting an online survey on them. They want to hear from as many people as possible whether they have one, want one, can't get one or don't want one! This is a rare opportunity to voice your opinions and experiences. You [...]

Disability Rights UK has partnered with University of Birmingham to conduct a study into how we produce knowledge and information about physical activity aimed at disabled people. Get Yourself Active and the University of Birmingham want to find out what you think about how information about physical activity and sport is presented to disabled people. [...]

It started with news of the NHS cyberattack and then rapidly spread… Articles focusing on the ransomware attacks have dominated the headlines over the last few days, affecting organisations across the world. If you are unsure of your security levels, then the general protect advice is as follows: Install system and application updates on all [...]

Mark Bates Ltd is a leading specialist independent living insurance company. Based in Lincolnshire, Mark Bates Ltd is a family run business with over 20 years in the industry. Their goal has always been to offer value cover and service to their customers so as to ensure they return year after year. The growth of [...]

A private healthcare provider, called Cera, has signed a deal with Uber to transport its carers and home patients. Cera said it had struck a deal with Uber to transport its London-based carers to their patients, while its disabled customers will be able to use UberAssist and UberWav (see below) to get out and about. [...]

If you employ your own PAs, either through social care funding (direct payment) or with your own money, you can apply for money for training from Skills for Care for training for yourself and your staff. Applications for funding close on Tuesday 28 February 2017 so make sure you don’t miss out and send your [...]

PA Pool has been asked by Baroness Campbell of Surbiton DBE to seek out your personal views and fears on the impact of Brexit in relation to people with disabilities. As a result we would specifically like your comments to the following questions by Tuesday 31 January: How many EU nationals have you successfully recruited [...]

We have been contacted by the Spinal Injuries Association, the leading national user-led charity for spinal cord injured (SCI) people with regards to their study days taking place in 2017. The Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) hold a popular series of healthcare professional Study Days and, on 22 February 2017 are launching a new Study Day [...]

Thank you for your continued support. We hope that you like the new website. Its been an enormous undertaking and is still not 100% as we want it, but we really appreciate your patience and feedback. Please continue to send us your feedback, by email to: admin@papool.co.uk and on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PAPoolLtd/. We would [...]

Blue Badge Mobility Insurance is a specialist insurance company providing niche products specifically designed to meet our clients needs. They have used their experience and expertise to create a range of policies including cover for carers and personal assistants. As a Care Worker or Personal Assistant (PA) you make a big difference to someone else’s [...]

We've put together this list of member top tips to help you get the most out of your membership. Please note that this has now been updated for the new website, so please do take the time to familiarise yourself with it - it really will help your results! Profile - Make sure your profile [...]

Aspire have launched a new campaign to make it a legal requirement for public broadcasters to show disability sports on a regular basis. Aspire have created a new petition aimed at Karen Bradley MP - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport – requesting a regulation that states disabled sports should be given the [...]

Funding is available for PHB holders, direct payment receipts and self-funders who employ their own carers, with Skills for Care. Read our latest newsletter dedicated to sharing information about funding for training available for people who employ their own carers through a personal health budget (PHB), social care funding (direct payment) or with their own [...]

Following Gordon Reid’s triumphant win at the first ever men's singles competition for wheelchair tennis at Wimbledon last weekend, our thoughts can’t help but turn to the Paralympics this Autumn. The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will take place after the Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) from Wednesday 7 September to Sunday 18 September 2016.  [...]

[row] [column md="6"] The Disability Rights Handbook is the most comprehensive, user-friendly guide there is to welfare, benefits and social care. The Handbook will tell you everything you need to know about how recent legislative changes may affect what you or those you care about may be entitled to. This is the only guide designed [...]

The University of East Anglia (UEA) are researching the experiences and attitudes of Personal Assistants. Have you ever worked as a PA (personal care assistant)?  If so, then researchers at the UEA would like to hear about your experiences. The study looks at personal care assistance relationships – what makes them work well, but also [...]