“I would always give Christies top marks. Other agencies do not provide the same level of training or support.”

“I would always give Christies top marks. Other agencies do not provide the same level of training or support.”
“I would always give Christies top marks. Other agencies do not provide the same level of training or support.”
Carer Training
Training to be a live-in home carer
To be a good carer, you need to be well trained. We take training very seriously at Christies Care. We invest upwards of £250,000 a year into training carers. We have our own in-house, award-winning training team, who take every potential carer through a two week residential induction course and through a two-day update every year after that.
Training doesn’t stop there. We have in-depth courses to train carers to be able to care for clients with specific conditions. So if a carer shows an aptitude to work for clients with dementia, they’ll go on our 2 day residential and 10 unit distance-learning dementia course.
Need help or advice from someone who knows what they are talking about? Ask the training team. Carers do all the time. So do our clients.
The trainers welcome it; having contact with real-world situations improves the training they give. The trainers are qualified to give advice on most aspects of care and know who else to recommend if they can’t help.
The most important part of training is that the carers are always taught to "put yourself in your client's shoes."
Christies Care's Induction and Update training have both been accredited by the CPD (Continuing Professional Development) Standards Office.
This means that when we say our training is great, independent experts have verified this statement.
And the independent experts audit us, so standards have to be kept high.
The Princess Royal Training Awards honours employers in the UK who have created outstanding training and skills development programmes which have resulted in exceptional commercial benefits.
The Princess Royal Training Awards recognise the achievement of a standard of excellence rather than selecting overall winners.
The awards are supported by the City & Guilds Group President, HRH The Princess Royal, who is an active advocate for skills development.
Award-winning 2 week Induction Training
Our Induction training is something that makes us stand out from the rest of the care providers in the UK. Our training team are award-winning, we are accredited with the CPD and we invest upwards of £250,000 a year in our training programme. When you have successfully passed your telephone interview we will invite you to attend our free, 2 week residential training course.
It is important to our clients that we are able to introduce well-trained carers to them, so all of our carers must go through the training and pass all of the tests. The induction training is designed to give everyone a basic understanding of care and help you feel confident in your first few jobs. Every member of office staff has also been through the training, so we know what it feels like first hand.
“I've said before the training is excellent. I've trained and worked with various care agencies and Christies Care offer a far broader approach to training and support which probably isn't fully appreciated until it’s unavailable.”
“We train carers to ask themselves:
“What would I want if I were in my client’s place?””
All carers also come back every year for a 2-day update to their training. This is just as important to keep your skills and knowledge refreshed and up to date. You will be expected to pass some more tests in order to carry on working to your full capacity. During your update we will also talk to you about how things are going, make sure everything is going well and you are happy.
Of course we don’t expect you to go all year without any contact. As well as your carer support team the training team are available if you have questions or concerns and they will happily take your call or call you back. We also run a range of condition specific training courses throughout the year, allowing you to gain deeper knowledge in some of the conditions that your clients may have.
What does our induction training cover?
Payments, National insurance, taxes, self-assessment.
How Christies Care operates
Medication including practical & theory assessments
Safeguarding including theory assessment
Health & Safety
End of life care
Safer People Moving & Handling including practical & theory assessments
Bed Bath & Dressing
Pressure sores, avoidance and care
Equipment/facilities for those with a disability
Continence Management
Disability Awareness
Fluids & Nutrition
Infection Prevention, Control & theory assessment
Food Hygiene including theory assessment
Dementia
Conflict Management, Dealing with Stress and Philosophy of Values
Emergency First Aid
Learning Disabilities & Autistic Spectrum Disorders
How to get the best out of your training
Many of you will travel a long way to come and train to be a carer with Christies. You are making an investment in your future and it makes sense that you do your best to get as much out of these 2 weeks as you can.
We recently had a particularly excellent group of recruits through our induction training which has been lovely. All groups bring something different to the table so I asked the training and recruitment teams to give some tips for those of you coming to training, or thinking of applying, how to get the best out of your 2 weeks.
BE KEEN TO LEARN
Come to induction open to learning as much as you can. You won't go far wrong! The training is interesting, engaging & fun. It’s even better if you're keen to get as much out of it as possible.
BE INQUISITIVE
There’s no such thing as a stupid question. Asking questions will make you a better carer and help our trainers to improve. If you don’t understand something never be afraid to ask. It will help you get the best out of your training.
BE ENTHUSIASTIC
It’s an exciting time. You’re embarking on a new career, either learning a new skill or building on previous knowledge. If you’re enthusiastic you’ll have a great week.
BE FRIENDLY
You’re all in the same boat. You’ll learn together, supporting each other through the training, tests and time away from home. A big part of your support network, you’ll see them each year at update training.
HAVE FUN
The things you’ll be learning about are serious and important, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun whilst you are learning. In fact it’s encouraged! Laugh a lot and you’ll enjoy training and retain more information too.
BE KEEN TO LEARN
Come to induction open to learning as much as you can. You won't go far wrong! The training is interesting, engaging & fun. It’s even better if you're keen to get as much out of it as possible.
BE INQUISITIVE
There’s no such thing as a stupid question. Asking questions will make you a better carer and help our trainers to improve. If you don’t understand something never be afraid to ask. It will help you get the best out of your training.
BE ENTHUSIASTIC
It’s an exciting time. You’re embarking on a new career, either learning a new skill or building on previous knowledge. If you’re enthusiastic you’ll have a great week.
BE FRIENDLY
You’re all in the same boat. You’ll learn together, supporting each other through the training, tests and time away from home. A big part of your support network, you’ll see them each year at update training.
HAVE FUN
The things you’ll be learning about are serious and important, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun whilst you are learning. In fact it’s encouraged! Laugh a lot and you’ll enjoy training and retain more information too.
BE KEEN TO LEARN
Come to induction open to learning as much as you can. You won't go far wrong! The training is interesting, engaging & fun. It’s even better if you're keen to get as much out of it as possible.
BE INQUISITIVE
There’s no such thing as a stupid question. Asking questions will make you a better carer and help our trainers to improve. If you don’t understand something never be afraid to ask. It will help you get the best out of your training.
BE ENTHUSIASTIC
It’s an exciting time. You’re embarking on a new career, either learning a new skill or building on previous knowledge. If you’re enthusiastic you’ll have a great week.
BE FRIENDLY
You’re all in the same boat. You’ll learn together, supporting each other through the training, tests and time away from home. A big part of your support network, you’ll see them each year at update training.
HAVE FUN
The things you’ll be learning about are serious and important, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun whilst you are learning. In fact it’s encouraged! Laugh a lot and you’ll enjoy training and retain more information too.
Condition-specific Training
We run a variety of condition-specific training courses throughout the year for our carers. These are supplementary to the induction training, and some of the topics are covered in the induction course. This means that if you find yourself particularly interested in a topic, or you go get a regular client with a specific condition you can learn more.
The training day covers key information about “Makaton” as well as learning stages 1 & 2 of the core vocabulary signs.
You will explore different ways we communicate and how this is applied in learning disability support.
Sue Mallion, our regional “Makaton” tutor, is the facilitator for the training.
Caring for someone with dementia can be very difficult.
It is all too easy to say or do something that causes the client to become anxious and distressed. That distress can spiral out of control. This is why Christies Care invests heavily in in-depth dementia care training. With training, carers know the general principles and practices to follow. They also know how to adapt these general principles to their own clients.
Our dementia training is facilitated by Helen Drain (an approved trainer for the Alzheimer’s Society), who herself looked after her husband as he developed vascular dementia. In Helen’s words:
“I got everything wrong, made all the mistakes you can and I don’t want to see anyone else going through that.”
The training course has ten units of distance learning (where the carers learn how to adapt the general principles to their clients) and a two day residential course, here in Saxmundham.
The training works. In the words of carers who have completed the course:
“I now feel confident that I have a good wide understanding of the different conditions falling under dementia. I can put myself in the client’s shoes and walk with them instead of against them.
I have learned how to evoke memories and give something back. The course has shown me how to get so much more from my work and how something as small as a smile can have such a big meaning.”
“The course was very good. Very useful! It made me more sensitive and opened my mind towards not just the person with a dementia condition but generally towards elderly & vulnerable people. It helped me to see them as a person, not just patients with health problems. Now I feel satisfaction when I can understand my clients and recognise their needs . I feel fulfilment when I can meet those needs.
I have a new insight into the mind of a person with a dementia condition and it helps me to be more successful with my clients. In my work I use the whole range of the exercises given.
One can have a lot of sympathy and compassion doing this work but it might not be enough to be efficient if one hasn’t the knowledge & skills to know how to approach the person. This course gave me tools and skills which I can use in my professional life and I personally feel more competent and confident working with clients now.”
“Six months down the line, with a heap of patience, my client is up, having meals with her husband by her side and even venturing out into the garden. She enjoys sitting having the newspaper read to her and is getting back into enjoying her paintings.”
The training day will teach you how to safely deliver a range of seated physical activities.
This inspiring and motivating day is suitable for most adults.
There will be practical information about Health & Safety as well as record keeping and communication.
The training day will enable you to leave with a confident and positive attitude to therapeutic activity.
This course is endorsed by the College of Occupational Therapists.
Induction training teaches the carers emergency first-aid.
Many carers want to know more about first-aid and to have more in-depth training.
The training programme has been developed specifically for Christies Care, covering all aspects of emergency first aid, with the course content customized to fit the likely scenarios a live-in carer will encounter.
This one day course consists of:
- Primary Survey
- Secondary Survey
- Basic Life Support
- Severe Bleeding
- Causes of Unconsciousness
- Heart Conditions
The end of somebody’s life is a very important time and it is important that the right care is given and that the care is given in a manner that suits the person who is dying.
It is equally important that carers themselves stay strong. It is vital that carers can look after themselves and can manage the emotional effects of death. A large part of this course, therefore, covers ways for carers themselves to cope with this deeply difficult time and remain able to give their best care and attention to their client.
This two day residential palliative care course is run by our in-house training team and has been developed with input from UKHCA and St. Elizabeth Hospice. It prepares all those who attend the course to support and assist the client with their daily needs towards and at the end of their life.
What does this course cover?
- Aspects of change as someone approaches the end of life
- Spiritual & religious needs
- Communication & documentation
- Collaboration with other professions
- Looking after yourself
- Managing death & bereavement
We know that a well-trained carer is much more likely to be a success supporting somebody with a learning disability than someone without any training. So our carers who work with people with a learning disability attend our two-day residential learning disability training course.
Since the Spring of 2015 this has become part of our two-week induction training for all new carers.
Christies Care is a British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD) satellite centre providing Health & Social Care Diplomas with the Learning Disabilities pathway.
Carers who attend our specialist training course also have the opportunity to undertake their Health & Social care Diploma at level 2 or 3, supported and assessed by a Christies Care assessor. Our awarding body for these qualifications is City & Guilds.
Our two day learning disability training course is facilitated by experienced trainers led by our learning disabilities coordinator. All have years of experience working in the Learning Disabilities field and pass on their enthusiasm, knowledge and experience to the carers they are training.
The team are also able to advise carers when they are supporting people with a learning disability, should the carer have any questions or concerns.
“The aim of the training we deliver is to encourage Carers to see beyond the labels and support the person to have a great life”
- To gain an understanding of the causes and effects of having a learning disability
- To explore the effects of history on current attitudes and approaches to learning disability support
- To discuss and explore person centred values in care
- To develop an understanding of person centred thinking and planning
- To identify and compare communication needs in relation to learning disability support.
- To look at the purpose and use of NHS passports
- Introducing useful resources
Day 2 - Introduction to Autistic Spectrum Disorder & Challenging Behaviour
- To gain a basic understanding of Autistic Spectrum Disorders and complexities of Supporting people with ASD
- Introduce Positive Behavioural Support
- Explore what is “challenging behaviour”
- Understand why challenging behaviours might occur
- To explore the stages of behaviour and the cues to an incident of challenging behaviour
- To acquire knowledge and skills relating to Positive Behaviour Support
- To know the difference between proactive and reactive strategies.
- To know how to complete records and reports relating to incidents of challenging behaviour
- Introducing Person Centred Thinking Tools that support recording and reflecting on Behaviours.
Many of our clients have serious mental health problems, and this is why they need live-in care.
Dementia is the most common disease affecting our clients’ mental health, and we provide excellent, in-depth training.
However, we also have clients with other mental health conditions. Carers therefore want a training course to give them a grounding in mental health and disorders and critically how to respond to someone’s experience of a mental disorder.
Christies Care has used a specialist training provider to develop a course that fits carers’ needs.
The course lasts for one day and covers:
- Identification of different triggers of mental disorders
- Signs and symptoms of common and severe mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, psychosis and bipolarity
- Appropriate response to people experiencing symptoms of mental disorders
- The understanding that people experiencing possible mental disorders need referral to appropriate services
- Support for people with mental disorders
- The law relating to mental health in the UK
Multiple Sclerosis affects many of our clients. Having an understanding of this disease helps carers who have clients with Multiple Sclerosis.
Our in-house trainers have received training from the Multiple Sclerosis society and have adapted this training to answer the questions that they hear most often from carers.
The course covers:
- What is multiple sclerosis?
- Types of Multiple Sclerosis
- Diagnosis and treatment
Many of our clients have Parkinson’s disease and our carers, especially those who care regularly for clients with Parkinson’s, asked us to provide training to help them in their job.
Our trainers have themselves received training from Parkinson’s UK. Our trainers have adapted Parkinson’s UK training to fit the circumstances likely to be encountered by a live-in carer.
The course lasts for half a day and is run on the same day as the MS awareness and care course.
The course covers:
- The history of Parkinson’s
- Non-motor symptoms
- Causes & diagnosis
- Treatments & progression
- Mobility & exercise
- Looking after the bowel & bladder
Stroke and the effects of stroke, affect a large number of our clients. Our clients affected by stroke may have live-in carers as they are discharged from hospital, to care for them as they rehabilitate and re-learn their skills.
Other clients, who may have had a more serious stroke or series of strokes, may need live-in carers full time, to enable them to lead as independent a life as possible.
We have a one-day stroke awareness and care training course, which helps to give carers the skills they will need to care for stroke survivors. Our in-house training team has been trained by the Stroke Association. The team has then amended this training to fit the needs of live-in carers.
This one day course covers:
- What is a stroke?
- Risks and causes
- Signs and symptoms
- Long-term effects
- Diagnosis and treatments
The training day covers key information about “Makaton” as well as learning stages 1 & 2 of the core vocabulary signs.
You will explore different ways we communicate and how this is applied in learning disability support.
Sue Mallion, our regional “Makaton” tutor, is the facilitator for the training.
Caring for someone with dementia can be very difficult.
It is all too easy to say or do something that causes the client to become anxious and distressed. That distress can spiral out of control. This is why Christies Care invests heavily in in-depth dementia care training. With training, carers know the general principles and practices to follow. They also know how to adapt these general principles to their own clients.
Our dementia training is facilitated by Helen Drain (an approved trainer for the Alzheimer’s Society), who herself looked after her husband as he developed vascular dementia. In Helen’s words:
“I got everything wrong, made all the mistakes you can and I don’t want to see anyone else going through that.”
The training course has ten units of distance learning (where the carers learn how to adapt the general principles to their clients) and a two day residential course, here in Saxmundham.
The training works. In the words of carers who have completed the course:
“I now feel confident that I have a good wide understanding of the different conditions falling under dementia. I can put myself in the client’s shoes and walk with them instead of against them.
I have learned how to evoke memories and give something back. The course has shown me how to get so much more from my work and how something as small as a smile can have such a big meaning.”
“The course was very good. Very useful! It made me more sensitive and opened my mind towards not just the person with a dementia condition but generally towards elderly & vulnerable people. It helped me to see them as a person, not just patients with health problems. Now I feel satisfaction when I can understand my clients and recognise their needs . I feel fulfilment when I can meet those needs.
I have a new insight into the mind of a person with a dementia condition and it helps me to be more successful with my clients. In my work I use the whole range of the exercises given.
One can have a lot of sympathy and compassion doing this work but it might not be enough to be efficient if one hasn’t the knowledge & skills to know how to approach the person. This course gave me tools and skills which I can use in my professional life and I personally feel more competent and confident working with clients now.”
“Six months down the line, with a heap of patience, my client is up, having meals with her husband by her side and even venturing out into the garden. She enjoys sitting having the newspaper read to her and is getting back into enjoying her paintings.”
The training day will teach you how to safely deliver a range of seated physical activities.
This inspiring and motivating day is suitable for most adults.
There will be practical information about Health & Safety as well as record keeping and communication.
The training day will enable you to leave with a confident and positive attitude to therapeutic activity.
This course is endorsed by the College of Occupational Therapists.
Induction training teaches the carers emergency first-aid.
Many carers want to know more about first-aid and to have more in-depth training.
The training programme has been developed specifically for Christies Care, covering all aspects of emergency first aid, with the course content customized to fit the likely scenarios a live-in carer will encounter.
This one day course consists of:
- Primary Survey
- Secondary Survey
- Basic Life Support
- Severe Bleeding
- Causes of Unconsciousness
- Heart Conditions
The end of somebody’s life is a very important time and it is important that the right care is given and that the care is given in a manner that suits the person who is dying.
It is equally important that carers themselves stay strong. It is vital that carers can look after themselves and can manage the emotional effects of death. A large part of this course, therefore, covers ways for carers themselves to cope with this deeply difficult time and remain able to give their best care and attention to their client.
This two day residential palliative care course is run by our in-house training team and has been developed with input from UKHCA and St. Elizabeth Hospice. It prepares all those who attend the course to support and assist the client with their daily needs towards and at the end of their life.
What does this course cover?
- Aspects of change as someone approaches the end of life
- Spiritual & religious needs
- Communication & documentation
- Collaboration with other professions
- Looking after yourself
- Managing death & bereavement
We know that a well-trained carer is much more likely to be a success supporting somebody with a learning disability than someone without any training. So our carers who work with people with a learning disability attend our two-day residential learning disability training course.
Since the Spring of 2015 this has become part of our two-week induction training for all new carers.
Christies Care is a British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD) satellite centre providing Health & Social Care Diplomas with the Learning Disabilities pathway.
Carers who attend our specialist training course also have the opportunity to undertake their Health & Social care Diploma at level 2 or 3, supported and assessed by a Christies Care assessor. Our awarding body for these qualifications is City & Guilds.
Our two day learning disability training course is facilitated by experienced trainers led by our learning disabilities coordinator. All have years of experience working in the Learning Disabilities field and pass on their enthusiasm, knowledge and experience to the carers they are training.
The team are also able to advise carers when they are supporting people with a learning disability, should the carer have any questions or concerns.
“The aim of the training we deliver is to encourage Carers to see beyond the labels and support the person to have a great life”
- To gain an understanding of the causes and effects of having a learning disability
- To explore the effects of history on current attitudes and approaches to learning disability support
- To discuss and explore person centred values in care
- To develop an understanding of person centred thinking and planning
- To identify and compare communication needs in relation to learning disability support.
- To look at the purpose and use of NHS passports
- Introducing useful resources
Day 2 - Introduction to Autistic Spectrum Disorder & Challenging Behaviour
- To gain a basic understanding of Autistic Spectrum Disorders and complexities of Supporting people with ASD
- Introduce Positive Behavioural Support
- Explore what is “challenging behaviour”
- Understand why challenging behaviours might occur
- To explore the stages of behaviour and the cues to an incident of challenging behaviour
- To acquire knowledge and skills relating to Positive Behaviour Support
- To know the difference between proactive and reactive strategies.
- To know how to complete records and reports relating to incidents of challenging behaviour
- Introducing Person Centred Thinking Tools that support recording and reflecting on Behaviours.
Many of our clients have serious mental health problems, and this is why they need live-in care.
Dementia is the most common disease affecting our clients’ mental health, and we provide excellent, in-depth training.
However, we also have clients with other mental health conditions. Carers therefore want a training course to give them a grounding in mental health and disorders and critically how to respond to someone’s experience of a mental disorder.
Christies Care has used a specialist training provider to develop a course that fits carers’ needs.
The course lasts for one day and covers:
- Identification of different triggers of mental disorders
- Signs and symptoms of common and severe mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, psychosis and bipolarity
- Appropriate response to people experiencing symptoms of mental disorders
- The understanding that people experiencing possible mental disorders need referral to appropriate services
- Support for people with mental disorders
- The law relating to mental health in the UK
Multiple Sclerosis affects many of our clients. Having an understanding of this disease helps carers who have clients with Multiple Sclerosis.
Our in-house trainers have received training from the Multiple Sclerosis society and have adapted this training to answer the questions that they hear most often from carers.
The course covers:
- What is multiple sclerosis?
- Types of Multiple Sclerosis
- Diagnosis and treatment
Many of our clients have Parkinson’s disease and our carers, especially those who care regularly for clients with Parkinson’s, asked us to provide training to help them in their job.
Our trainers have themselves received training from Parkinson’s UK. Our trainers have adapted Parkinson’s UK training to fit the circumstances likely to be encountered by a live-in carer.
The course lasts for half a day and is run on the same day as the MS awareness and care course.
The course covers:
- The history of Parkinson’s
- Non-motor symptoms
- Causes & diagnosis
- Treatments & progression
- Mobility & exercise
- Looking after the bowel & bladder
Stroke and the effects of stroke, affect a large number of our clients. Our clients affected by stroke may have live-in carers as they are discharged from hospital, to care for them as they rehabilitate and re-learn their skills.
Other clients, who may have had a more serious stroke or series of strokes, may need live-in carers full time, to enable them to lead as independent a life as possible.
We have a one-day stroke awareness and care training course, which helps to give carers the skills they will need to care for stroke survivors. Our in-house training team has been trained by the Stroke Association. The team has then amended this training to fit the needs of live-in carers.
This one day course covers:
- What is a stroke?
- Risks and causes
- Signs and symptoms
- Long-term effects
- Diagnosis and treatments