Advocacy and Advocates
The Care Act says the council must involve people when decisions are made about their care and support. Advocacy is there to represent you.
Independent advocates
An advocate is a person who supports you and helps explain and say what you want to say. They help ensure your views are heard, so that your problems can be sorted out.
They can:
- Help put your views and feelings across about decisions that are being made about your life.
- Speak on your behalf if that is what you want.
- Give information and advice about your rights and any worries you have as well as help you make choices about what is best for you.
- Help make a complaint.
In order to be able to support you express your wishes and feelings or represent your views, advocates will need to spend time with you to build up an understanding.
Advocacy supports those at greatest need who have difficulty in understanding information, retaining information, using and weighing that information and in expressing their wishes and feelings. Advocacy is provided free of charge providing a person meets the below statutory eligibility criteria. This could apply to any adult and older person, any carer, young people in transition from Children's Services to Adult Services and young carers.
Advocacy can provide independent help and support with:
- Wellbeing assessments and reviews.
- Carer’s assessments.
- Keeping safe from harm (safeguarding).
For more detailed information please view our factsheet 'Help Managing Your Affairs and Decision Making Factsheet'. (PDF, 106KB, 3 pages)
How to get an independent advocate
A social care worker will identify if you meet the qualifying criteria under the Care Act, Mental Health Act or the Mental Capacity Act you can have access to help from an independent advocate.
The following conditions must be considered appointing an independent advocate:
- The person would have substantial difficulty in being fully involved in key processes if an advocate was not provided.
- There was no appropriate individual available to support and represent the person’s wishes who is not paid professionally, engaged in providing care and treatment to the person or their carer.
Where required, independent advocacy will be arranged through a person’s social care worker and a personal budget can be used to pay for independent advocacy.
Alternatively you can find an advocate by contacting Southern Advocacy Services on the details below.
Address: Southern Advocacy Services, Quay House, The Quay, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 2QR
Telephone: 01983 559299
Email: info@southernadvocacyservices.co.uk
Web: www.southernadvocacyservices.co.uk
Recent Public Consultation
The Isle of Wight Council have a statutory obligation to provide independent advocacy support for individuals who have substantial difficulty engaging with the care and support process and who do not have another suitable person to help them to do this. An advocate will help people to understand information and support them to express their wishes so that they are fully involved in any decisions that are made about them or their care and support.
The Isle of Wight Council is currently reviewing the independent advocacy service it currently provides in order to improve and develop this valuable support for local residents.
We value people’s experience, knowledge and comments as this will help us to shape the service for the future, we have gathered feedback through a public consultation which ran from 7 Oct 2019 to 15 Nov 2019.
View the ASC Advocacy public consultation report 2020.