Katy Etherington’s personal assistants help her live independently and run a website matching up disabled people with PAs. But shortages are so acute some disabled people may be forced into residential care, she says.
Katy Etherington runs a website, PA Pool, that matches disabled people with personal assistants (PAs). “Last year, we had 460 PAs join from Poland, and this year we’ve only had 36,” she says. “It’s a serious problem.”
Before Brexit, most of the people who worked as a personal assistant to Etherington herself were from mainland Europe. Of the current team who help her live and work independently, three are from the EU and have settled status – but if they leave, the thought of having to replace them is, she says, “terrifying”.
