160 care employers in Sefton could find you

Working in care in Sefton

Southport to Bootle: what is caring like along the Sefton coast?

Sefton runs for miles up the coast north of Liverpool, from the docks and terraces of Bootle through Crosby and Formby to the seaside town of Southport, with Maghull inland. Southport dominates the care picture. Well over half of the borough's care employers are based there, from small residential homes to larger nursing homes, and Bootle comes a distant second. Unusually for Merseyside, care homes outnumber home care agencies here.

The reason is easy to see in the census. Sefton's median age rose from 44 to 46 between 2011 and 2021, well above England's 40, and the population grew by only 2%. Meanwhile the number of people aged 35 to 49 fell by around 6,000, so there are fewer people in the age group that often fills care jobs, which is good news if you are looking for work.

The Merseyrail line from Southport through Formby, Crosby and Bootle into Liverpool makes the coast unusually easy to cover without a car, at least for care homes near a station. Home care around Ainsdale, Formby and Maghull is more spread out and usually needs a driver.

Sefton Council's direct payments let people buy care from an agency or employ their own staff directly, so personal assistant work exists here too. For NHS roles, Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust runs Southport Hospital, while south Sefton looks to Aintree University Hospital, run by Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Hugh Baird College's Healthcare Campus in Bootle teaches health and social care with a simulation ward, and Southport College has its own hospital ward simulation unit for Health and Social Care students.

82% of the inspected care employers in Sefton are rated Good or Outstanding by the CQC, close to the 84% across the North West and below England as a whole (85%).