103 care employers in Torbay could find you

Working in care in Torbay

On the English Riviera, why does care work look so different?

Torbay is three seaside towns wrapped around one bay: Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. It is one of the older places in England. At the 2021 census the median age was 49, nine years above the national figure, and the number of people aged 65 to 74 rose by almost a quarter in a decade. That age profile is easy to see in the local care market, where care homes outnumber home care services by roughly two to one. Torquay has the biggest cluster of employers and Paignton most of the rest, so a carer living in either town can often find a care home within easy reach.

Something else sets Torbay apart. Adult social care here is not run directly by the council. Since 2015 Torbay Council has planned and paid for it, while Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust provides it, the first trust in England to bring hospital, community and social care together. If you are weighing up an NHS role against social care, it helps to know that the same trust runs Torbay Hospital in Torquay as well as the social work teams.

Direct payments are available, and the council's page says people can use them to hire a personal assistant at times that suit them. Paying a family member who lives with you is not normally allowed unless the council agrees. A local organisation, Support Networks, helps people find PAs, which means personal assistant work is a real option in the bay.

South Devon College in Paignton runs adult courses including a Level 3 Healthcare Support Diploma, a Social Care Skills Bootcamp and Access to Higher Education in Nursing and Midwifery, with a simulation ward for practical training.

83% of the inspected care employers in Torbay are rated Good or Outstanding by the CQC, below the 90% across the South West and in line with England as a whole (85%).