882 care employers in Kent could find you

Working in care in Kent

Is Kent one place to do care work, or several?

Ask a carer in Dartford and a carer in Folkestone what Kent is like and you will get two different answers. The north west of the county, close to London, has grown fast: Dartford's population rose by about a fifth between the 2011 and 2021 censuses. Along the Channel coast the picture is older. Folkestone and Hythe had a median age of 47 at the last census and Thanet 45, against 40 for England, and an older population means steady demand for care at home and in residential and nursing settings.

Maidstone has the most care employers in the county, with Dartford and Ashford close behind, then Canterbury, Sittingbourne, Folkestone, Gravesend and Dover. Home care is the largest group across Kent, though care homes are not far behind. Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester sit in the middle of it all but come under Medway Council rather than the county, so they have a page of their own.

Kent County Council lets people use direct payments to employ a personal assistant, and its guidance is plain that whoever does so becomes the PA's employer, with the same duties as any other employer. It also publishes a fact sheet for self-employed PAs. If you would rather support one person steadily than work a round, PA work is a genuine option in Kent.

Three acute trusts cover the county. Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust runs Darent Valley Hospital, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust runs hospitals in both towns, and East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust runs the William Harvey in Ashford, the Kent and Canterbury and the QEQM in Margate. For training, NKC Dartford College offers Health Care and Social Care courses, and MidKent College teaches Health and Social Care at its Maidstone and Medway campuses.

81% of the inspected care employers in Kent are rated Good or Outstanding by the CQC, below the 84% across the South East and below England as a whole (85%).