Local authority partnering with national home-care platform

Local authority partnering with first-of-its-kind national home-care platform sees numbers of vetted PAs grow by over a third

PRESS RELEASE

Sunderland City Council has given the thumbs up to an innovative partnership with the UK’s only home-care technology platform connecting self-employed carers or personal assistants (PAs) with direct payment recipients who want to manage their own care.

Since starting work with Curam in January, the number of approved and vetted carers on the platform in the Sunderland area has risen by 37%, offering more choice to clients needing care.

Curam is a tech platform tackling carers’ low pay by offering choice and control to both carers and recipients. Using its platform and apps for both the client and self-employed PAs, carers set their own rates of pay and people receiving care can choose their own care worker.

Including Sunderland, 27 local authorities are now using the national platform, and it is free for councils to use the portal, post a job and to add clients.

Curam ensures each PA is carefully vetted, DBS checked, insured and has access to free CPD training - putting care workers at the heart of the solution.  In total, Curam has over 8,000 vetted carers. It is the only national home-care platform of its kind, addressing the critical shortage of trained and vetted carers – currently estimated to be 165,000. 

Recipients can use the platform and app to rapidly browse verified carers and post their care requirements. The tech’s capabilities mean families can find a carer within as little as 30 minutes and have genuine choice and control over who they hire.

A spokesman for Sunderland City Council said: “Sunderland City Council’s partnership with Curam has provided an effective option for direct payment customers to find self-employed personal assistants. The support provided by Curam staff has been excellent and they are always on hand to answer any questions or queries. The website and council platform are easy to use which has made it a really quick process to post adverts and to find personal assistants, as well as being able to link with the council’s existing payment and monitoring systems.”

Client Peter, whose brother receives care via the portal, said: "The level of care Victoria offers is excellent and has made such a huge difference to my brother and his mental health. I only wished I had set it up sooner. The website is excellent, with ease of use and the direct payment set up is fantastic. Absolutely outstanding and so professional.”

Curam director Ben Weatherall said: “The growing number of partnerships with local authorities benefit all those involved. The councils, the direct payment recipients and the PAs themselves. One of the other positive outcomes is the creation of local jobs for people and paying them a fair amount - 85% of each care invoice goes to the PA.”

For more information go to https://www.curamcare.com/

For media queries or to arrange an interview contact: cathy@curamcare.com