Finding a PSW in London for Your Home Care Needs
There might come a time when you or your loved one is in need of a Personal Support Worker (PSW) to assist with daily activities. If this is the case, we’d like to help you find a PSW in London to assist with your home care needs.
Publicly Funded PSW in London
If you’re in need of a Personal Support Worker in London, you can try contacting your Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN) to see if you qualify for publicly funded home care. A care coordinator will perform an initial assessment to evaluate your needs and see if a PSW is the best fit for you.
If you don’t qualify for publicly funded home care, or if you want to add hours or extra service to your current care plan, you may consider private home care. There are several common ways for you to find a private in-home PSW in London.
Finding a Private PSW through Home Care Agencies
To find a private Personal Support Worker in London, you can directly contact a home care agency and ask for their services. A care representative will coordinate a free in-home assessment to better understand your needs and determine a suitable care plan. From there, a PSW will be assigned to your case.
This option is ideal if you’re looking for a personal support worker that is reliable, professional, experienced, and properly trained. Reputable home care agencies can guarantee that a professional PSW will be providing your care, and they will have stringent privacy, confidentiality and security policies in place. They will also have 24/7 customer support to address your every concern.
To learn more about choosing the right home care agency, check out our in-depth guide about finding the right home care provider for your needs.
Finding a Private PSW through Word of Mouth or Online Websites
You can choose to hire an independent PSW in London if you don’t want to find one through a home care agency. You can post your requests on websites like Craigslist or Workopolis. Looking for caregivers through Kijiji or sites like care.com is also an option.
It could be cheaper to hire from these websites than from a home care agency. There’s also the benefit of being able to directly interview the PSWs so you can get to know them better yourself. However, validating the PSWs experience and skills can be difficult. There will also be complex considerations to tend to such as the payroll paperwork for Canada Revenue Agency, since you’re technically hiring a person to work for you.
You may also consider finding a personal support worker through personal connections, especially if you’re not keen on letting a stranger into your house. Looking for a PSW through word of mouth might be cheaper than hiring a PSW from a through a home care agency. However, if you’re hiring a PSW through personal connections, you may end up hiring a PSW that doesn’t have professional training and may not be qualified to provide the care you need.
If you want to learn more about the differences between home care agencies and hiring independently, read our blog Finding a PSW in London: Home Care Agency vs. Independent Provider.
Costs of Hiring a Private PSW in London
If you’re hiring a Personal Support Worker through a home care agency, the cost will usually be $25 to $35 per hour. Independent PSWs in London may cost less—usually $20 to $30 per hour—but you also need to consider the differences in the level of care you’ll be receiving. Home care agencies are accredited, reputable organizations with policies in place to ensure you receive the highest level quality of care.
At Closing the Gap Healthcare, we pride ourselves on providing the highest quality of care throughout London. If you’re interested in learning more about our PSWs, fill out the form below and one of our care representatives will contact you directly to discuss your needs. You can also call us directly at 519-641-0984.