At Christies Care, we began working with local authorities in 1993. We now work with over 25 Local Authorities and NHS Trusts.

Our expertise lies in our flexible approach. By establishing what each service user wants and needs, we are able to provide a tailored care package for each individual, whether it is just companionship or mental health issues.

When asked, most people would state that if given the choice, they would prefer to remain living in the comfort of their own home.

Live-in care can be a preferable choice to hourly care workers as it ensures the needs and wishes of the service user are met continuously.

The three main benefits of live-in care are Continuity, Flexibility and Price.

Continuity – The care worker lives with the service user for several weeks at a time. This helps to build a strong relationship based on trust between the care worker and user. The continuity of a daily routine helps prevent issues with those afraid of change.

Flexibility – Many of our service users do not want a rigid routine. They may want to eat at different times of the day, or have a change to their normal daily routine. As our care workers live with the service user, they are prepared for this flexible approach, and can work around the wishes of the service user.

Price – Often live-in care can be seen as a cost-effective alternative to hourly care workers. This is particularly true when overnight care is needed.

At Christies Care, we take our accreditations seriously. We are regulated as a domiciliary care agency under the Care Standards Act by the Quality Care Commission. You can read our CQC report here.

As well as being a member of the UKHCA (the United Kingdom Home Care Association), we are registered as Investors in People.

Our bespoke training centre is an accredited OCR centre for health and social care training and a British Institute of Learning Disability (BILD) satellite training centre.

For NHS Trusts who have yet to establish a relationship with us, we are registered on the supplier identification database NHS-SID. Our reference is SID-200728.

Much of our work with Local Authorities has been around short term immediate problems.

Although we are not an emergency service, we can often source care workers within a few hours for respite/emergency care providing we are told about the service user’s needs and the household environment.

Yes - we have invested heavily in our care worker training for those working with physically disabled service users. We offer advanced training courses to cover the different types of disability and our bespoke guest house offers a disability-friendly guestroom for those wishing to visit our head offices.

We encourage our care workers to promote independence amongst those with physical disabilities.

Our tailored approach ensures that the service user has their personal care and physical needs taken care of in their own way and that they live independent lives.

Our expertise is in working with service users suffering from learning disabilities.

We have worked with LD service users since 1994, and we specialise in helping those who were becoming institutionalised to live independent lives.

Our bespoke training centre is an accredited satellite centre for the British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD) and all of our care workers are encouraged to complete the nationally recognised LDQ qualification.

Our advanced training programmes are vital to the ways in which we work with LD service users.

Working with elderly clients is the core of our business.

Many of our clients suffer from dementia, and all of our care workers are fully prepared and supported when working with dementia patients.

We have worked closely with The Alzheimer’s Society to establish a comprehensive training programme for those care workers wishing to specialise in dementia related illnesses.

For over 15 years we have worked with service users who wish to remain in control of their finances. Our specialised ‘Care Payments Administration’ department provides information and guidance regarding paying for care, helping each service user find the most satisfactory way for them to arrange payment.

Many service users wish to convert to live-in care as an alternative to hourly care as it can be regarded as value for money, particularly when night time care is needed.

A living-in care assistant from Christies Care is comparable to the local authority cost of a person in a nursing home.  However, it is usually higher than the cost of a local authority residential home.

We ask local authorities to contact us for a separate costing when paying for all or part of the care costs for service users. Live-in care generally costs between £700-£850 per week which includes an allowance for food.

However, if the service user is paying part of the costs of live-in care, we will establish a separate contract for the local authority and the family of the service user. 

We work to the national level of minimum standards, and we are regularly inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

It is our company policy to provide a standard of service that will fulfil the physical and emotional needs of each service user. It is also our policy to provide rewarding employment for all of our care workers.

Our administration staff play a big role in our communication to care workers and service users. We regularly review the ways in which we work, and we are registered with Investors in People which helps to maintain our standards of work.

Our overall goal is to provide a service which completely satisfies our service users and staff.