care assistant

home assistant

caregiver

healthcare assistant

support worker

Christies-Care

The role of a live-in carer is both challenging and rewarding. Both the training and the diversity of clients offered to me has provided me with many opportunities to learn new skills: such as using a variety of different moving and handling equipment, professionalism, communication with the clients and the people around them and medication administration procedures. In addition, you have the chance to broaden your knowledge and experience of the wider communities by working with different clients who have different medical conditions, different personalities, backgrounds and lifestyles. Many clients are quite vocal about their appreciation for what you help them with or show their gratitude in one way or another. Not only that but it is always gratifying to see clients maintain their independence while remaining in their beloved home, assisting them in doing the things they love and potentially, observing progress and improvement in their condition.

However, it can be quite emotionally and psychologically difficult as you are often away from home, friends and family for prolonged periods of time. Therefore, there can be quite a lack of personal social life - particularly when some clients are quite isolated from their family, friends and community so don't have many visitors. Other clients might be unable to have a meaningful conversation with you due to the inability to retain information or the inability to communicate.
Fortunately, even when things become difficult or you find yourself struggling to cope, you are always only one phone call away from support. There are plenty of office staff members that can provide you with all the necessary information about a client or give you advice on what to do in given situations. The wellbeing team is also there to make sure that your wellbeing is looked after and that you have someone to talk to when you need to get things off your chest.

Their induction training is much too long - it is two weeks now. Other agencies offer 3-5 days training and if you are in employment, the training is paid.

It is purely self-employment agency, so no extra bonuses. 
You cannot do the NVQ2, if you are self-employed unless you pay for it yourself. So there is not much progress or advancement if you want to delevop your qualifications, There are some employment positions in the CC agency, but there aren't many. 

The pay gets smaller and smaller - it is now the average of 500pounds per week - gross. The carer covers the cots of travel to the client - which may be a lot if travelling to distant places. 
.
Changeovers are nightmares. Christies put 3-4 carers in a changeover chain (sometimes more), so if you are the one who finishes work and goes home, you have to wait for your changeover carer all day. I finished my work a few times at 8 pm or even 10 pm.
Even though it was a whole day's shift, I had to ask for money from CC, and they paid me only half the day's wage - about 35 pounds for that all day's work. 
They tell you not to book a plane home on the changeover day, for the above reasons, so you have to cover the cost of stay in a hostel or B&B, and wait overnight to get your plane on the next day.
If you finish the work at 8 pm and you are in the south of England, of the north like Scotland, then, imagine to travel to London to a hostel at that time, especially in winter when it is dark.   

It is not possible to organise work for yourself on a regular basis, if you want to work 4weeks on/4 weeks off (4/4 or 3/3 or other). They tell you they undertsand but they may not be able to find you work then. Why? It is normal to work like this for other agencies.

It is hard to find a regular client, if you find someone to work for and you like the place, you are told "we would like to have 3-4 carers to work for that client". Why?       

Even if you have a regular client, your bookings get shortened or even cancelled. You are told that it was the client's wish to have you replaced. It is usually done after you have gone, so you don't have much chance to talk to the client.

From the word go CHRISTIES stood out for me as a very professional agency. From the recruitment process, to assisting with compliance documents, to excellent pieces of training provided, I have only been impressed. Added to this is a great team of people on-site at Chrisities: Logistics, Care Management, Finance, IT support, Well-Being. Accommodation in Saxmundham, when training (sometimes available, at a minimal fee, in between assignments) is basic but spotlessly clean, with all amenities one could wish for, including a well-equipped kitchen (my only gripe is no coffee pot to make filter coffee!). All this made me feel well-equipped, ready, and confident to start work.  I have been very fortunate to have almost continual work from Christie's in my 1st 6months on the job. The work has been mostly very enjoyable, despite some initial challenges with complex clients, needing specialized interventions (I have now come to value these rich learning experiences!). There is something quite special and unique about the nature of this work, that quickly takes you into these intimate spaces with both clients and their families. Making a real difference in people’s lives, whether it be helping someone to become more independent, cooking a delicious meal, or making them feel loved and cared for, gives one great job satisfaction. 



The training is very thorough but incredibly stressful and intense which I didn't enjoy. I forgot a lot of the info and had to go back and look it up afterwards to absorb it fully.
Company was super supportive in the beginning and taking the 14-week work package was a life-saver. It also helped that I started work in November as I worked over the holiday season when they really need more carers. Unfortunately, after the package ended, it felt like we became quite disposable and like we had less choice in accepting clients as we were constantly told that there were loads of carers without work because they just had so many at the moment. So they continually train and add new carers to their books but don't retain enough new clients to cover their existing staffing demands.
Also, they convince you to work on bank holidays because of double / triple pay which is flipping fantastic if you're not being taxed (I wasn't taxed for Christmas as I only started work in the UK in November and earned under the minimum tax bracket for the tax year) but if you are getting taxed, it is actually not worth it because you lose most of it to tax (I worked over Easter weekend and after tax, I onlu earned an extra £30). 

I worked here for a year and they bent over backwards for me, I told them about being a surrogate and in months to come I would need 2 weeks of post transfer (which they said was fine) the time came for transfer 11 months later and they suddenly took all my work off me weeks before I needed time of, I rang and was told it was a group decision that I am now considered "unreliable" I asked when work would be allocated to me in which I was told "your on a 0 hour contract)
The pay was amazing
Clients were really heartwarming
Management make out like they care for you but when things are brought up such as no one wearing aprons or people aren't using equipment correctly I was met with total understanding. Now they've proven they stab you in the back whenever they see you as useless.
I have had 2 previous carers been "let off" due to really disgusting reasons which left them no longer feeling like there good St there job when infact they was sacked so they could save money and send the live in carers to do our work and not have to pay them.

I really enjoyed my job and still have clients now that stay in contact and explain the care has gone down.

I'm gutted to have left but will not stay with a company that see you as numbers on a pay roll and not the human they "see" you as when you start.

DONT BE FOOLED.

You get a week or two training, which if you don't complete your allocated weeks of work after training, you have to pay a fee of 250POUNDS along with your accommodation fee. The training is straight in the deep end and requires a lot of revision if you are new to the business. The pay is also decided by the Employer not Christies care. SO you may have your work cut out for you working all hours in the day for a a client with very demanding needs, and only get the same pay as working for a client who's needs are far less demanding and you get more time off. The wages are not fair in my opinion as with most clients you also have to pay your own travel and I have to travel rather far and out of my selected area. Two of the other carers I did a change over with had no interest in explaining anything to me and were annoyed that I had arrive 2 hours late. When you are travelling from one client to the other and the travel time is 3 hours AND your using public transport, it becomes difficult to keep people happy. Their support team were on hand, and were friendly and happy to help. Although, when I did hand in my notice, nobody called or emailed me for 2 weeks only to find a letter had been sent to my old address billing me for the training.

- typical day involves helping client with personal care. Making food appropriate to clients dietary requirements and monitoring  medication (and sometimes administering medication). General housekeeping including cleaning and grocery shopping. Balancing budgets and organising clients schedules  (ie medical, social and general activities).  Keeping a log of daily scheduling (either manually or using the app provided). Patience is key and compassion is key. This is not a 9 to 5 job and if you are a clock watcher, this is not the job for you! I have learnt to celebrate the small achievements with clients, which builds trust and understanding the them and their families.  The hardest part is being away from your own family. The most enjoyable part is helping families and clients deal with their changing situations in a positive way. Christies has a good team who have someone on call at all times. Special mention should be made about their training team who are the most professional and nicest people to learn from.

My experience with this company has mostly been on the negative side.
A typical day involves waking  up or starting work at 7 am , 2 hrs break from 2-4 pm and stopping work at about 10 pm (if you don't have night calls) and going to sleep at 10:30 pm. You usually have to do your own care very early in the morning, during your break or very late at night. For approx 15 hours work I approximately earn £50 - £60 a day, this company approximately charges a client up to £1600 Per week so a huge chunk of your hard work goes to them and you really don't get much in return it's very one sided. The online training also has to be done during your break most times. They don't accept any liability if things go wrong. Some clients have very complex needs where training provided is not good enough.  Some advice I'd give is  Job shadowing should be done and paid for with all new carers and better pay is required. 

Having been a long-serving member of staff I have seen many changes as the industry has evolved and the company have adapted to suit the needs of those seeking their services.
It is refreshing to work for a company that see their staff as people who have their own lives, families and commitments.  I have never worked for a company that is willing to be flexible enough that you can have the home-work balance you need without feeling any guilt.
Christies Care are a care company who actually care both about their customers but also their staff both in the office and out and offer as much non-judgmental support as possible.  They not only strive to offer the best of their services to the best of their ability but will endeavour to always do what they say they will which gives a great deal of job satisfaction.
Highly recommended place to work.

A typical day at work, involved assisting with personal care needs and support with activities at home and in the community.

I learned many skills to cater for varying client needs, such as;
the use of various medical equipment, interpersonal skills with clients, their families and other healthcare professionals, how to supervise new staff and liaise with other healthcare professionals to attend client reviews. I also learned some British Sign Language and Makaton.

I felt appreciated and supported by both management and co-workers and did the same in return.

The hardest part of the job, was being away from home for long periods of time, but this was balanced by the job satisfaction of watching clients develop and maintain independence and quality of life, with my support.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Care assistant 173 salaries reported	£14.67 per hour
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Caregiver 3 salaries reported	£13.25 per hour
Healthcare assistant 20 salaries reported	£13.23 per hour
Support worker 11 salaries reported	£750 per week

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