Care staff for services in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay

Who regulates care in Devon

Devon care services are registered with the Care Quality Commission, and children’s homes with Ofsted. Every worker we put forward has had identity and right to work confirmed, an enhanced DBS check with the barred list the role needs, and references from recent care work.

For rural home care and for homes off the main roads, we check drivers’ licences and insurance that covers driving for work too.

Care regulator

Care Quality Commission (CQC) for adult social care. Ofsted registers and inspects children’s homes.

Criminal record checks

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Care roles are usually checked at enhanced level, with the adults’ or children’s barred list where the work is regulated activity.

Workforce register

No national register for care workers. Nurses are on the NMC register, and social workers must be registered with Social Work England.

Councils

• Devon County Council
• Plymouth City Council
• Torbay Council

NHS integrated care board

• NHS Devon
• Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust

Care services in Devon

Devon County Council’s market position statement, published in February 2025, reports an ageing care workforce and difficulties recruiting and keeping staff, made worse by competition from other sectors. It rates the nursing home market as high risk because of a lack of nurses in social care and the number of nurses nearing retirement, and notes that rural homes are hard for staff to reach.

Skills for Care estimated staff turnover in Devon’s adult social care at 26.8 per cent in 2024/25, higher than the England rate of 23.7 per cent.

NHS Devon is the integrated care board for the whole county, including Plymouth and Torbay, and works through five local care partnerships: Northern Devon, Eastern Devon, South Devon, Western Devon and Plymouth. It has worked jointly with NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly since September 2025, and the two expect to merge formally in April 2027. Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust was the first NHS organisation in England to join up hospital and community care with social care.

The M5 ends at junction 31, just south of Exeter. A July 2026 decision on new unitary councils was paused in September 2026, and the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority was set up in 2025.

In its July 2026 assessment of Devon County Council, the CQC recorded that a national and local shortage of nurses and reliance on agency staff created potential risks to nursing placements, although residential and nursing care provision remained sufficient. Skills for Care estimates for 2024/25 put Devon’s vacancy rate at 4.9 per cent, against an England average of 7.0 per cent, and the council has worked with other authorities on the Devon Alliance for International Recruitment.

In Torbay, council data showed average waits of 5.5 days for homecare, 6.5 days for residential care, 7 days for nursing care and 68 days for supported living, the most pressured area (CQC, December 2025). In Plymouth, partners told the CQC that placements for people with complex needs such as dementia remained difficult to source, and that a shortage of suitable care homes for younger people meant some were placed out of the area.

Settings and roles we staff in Devon

We recruit for every setting and role below across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.

Areas near Devon

• Bristol
• Cardiff
• All areas we cover