134 care employers in Herefordshire could find you

Working in care in Herefordshire

Herefordshire: lots of countryside, few people, and real need

Few English counties are as thinly spread as Herefordshire. The council's own research puts it as the fourth least densely populated county level authority in England, with two fifths of residents living in its most rural areas. Hereford is the only city and holds nearly half of the county's care employers, with the market towns of Leominster, Ross on Wye and Ledbury making up most of the rest. Care homes and nursing homes together outnumber home care agencies, and nursing homes are a bigger share of the picture than in many places.

The population is old and getting older. Around 27 per cent of residents are 65 or over, compared with 19 per cent nationally, and the median age climbed from 44 to 48 between the last two censuses. In practice that means home care runs out along country lanes to villages and farms, and a carer who drives is worth a great deal to the person waiting for a morning call. If you drive, say so plainly on your profile.

Herefordshire Council runs its own Home First reablement service, a CQC registered team that visits people up to four times a day to help them rebuild skills such as washing, dressing and making meals after illness or a hospital stay. The council also pays direct payments so people can employ their own staff for personal care and help around the home, and it publishes a factsheet for those becoming an employer, so PA work is available here too.

On the NHS side, Wye Valley NHS Trust runs the County Hospital in Hereford and community hospitals in Leominster, Ross on Wye and Bromyard, and offers apprenticeships to train as a healthcare support worker. Herefordshire, Ludlow and North Shropshire College runs an Adult Care Worker apprenticeship from Hereford, plus an Access to HE Diploma in Health and Social Care.

87% of the inspected care employers in Herefordshire are rated Good or Outstanding by the CQC, above the 79% across the West Midlands and in line with England as a whole (85%).