What is personal care?
Personal care is the support a person needs with the activities of daily living. It can include help with eating and drinking, moving and handling, toileting, washing, dressing, bathing or showering, communicating and taking medication.
People with MS must be able to attend MS Society activities knowing that they will be treated with dignity and respect and that they will have access to the personal care they need.
What does this mean for our MS Society group?
In most cases, personal care should be provided by a person’s own primary carer as part of their support plan. If however, you organise an activity that aims to give primary carers a break, your group must supply contracted care assistants to provide personal care. We’ve developed a range of guidance to help you do this:
Contracting care assistants
Before you agree to provide contracted care, it is important to know what support a person needs.
You can now contact a Domiciliary Care Agency registered with the appropriate care regulation authority to arrange for a contracted care assistant to attend your event. To find a care agency in your area visit the website of the appropriate regulator:
- The Care Quality Commission (England)
- The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (Northern Ireland)
- The Care Inspectorate (Scotland)
- The Care and Social Services Inspectorate (Wales)
Need support?
Your Volunteer Support Officer should be your first point of contact for support implementing our personal care policy.
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