310 care employers in Somerset could find you

Working in care in Somerset

Taunton, the Levels and Exmoor's edge: where could you care in Somerset?

Somerset is a big rural county with a few busy towns, a long northern coast and a lot of farmland in between. A quarter of its 581,000 residents are 65 or over, well above the England average of under a fifth, according to the Care Quality Commission's 2026 review of the council. Taunton is the centre of gravity for care work, with far more employers than anywhere else. Yeovil and Bridgwater come next, then a run of smaller towns: Burnham-on-Sea, Wellington, Minehead, Wells and Frome.

Somerset's most distinctive feature for carers is its micro-providers. Since 2015 the council has helped around 1,250 tiny local care services get started, each with no more than eight workers, and together they give more than 30,000 hours of support a week to almost 6,000 people. If you want to work for yourself supporting people in your own village, the council's Enterprise Development Team offers free advice, workshops and help with enhanced DBS checks and specialist insurance.

Direct payments are another route to independent work. Somerset Council says people can use them to employ someone to help them, and its Direct Payment Advisory Scheme supports them to recruit and employ staff.

Since 2023 a single trust, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, has run acute, community and mental health services, including Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Yeovil Hospital and a string of community hospitals from Minehead to Frome. For training, Bridgwater College runs a Level 2 Health and Social Care course with 100 hours of placement, and Taunton College has its own health and social care courses.

91% of the inspected care employers in Somerset are rated Good or Outstanding by the CQC, close to the 90% across the South West and above England as a whole (85%).