What is Advocacy?

Advocacy is an important tool to help people to be listened to and to have their rights and choices respected. Advocates work alongside individuals and are on that person's side. There are many different types of advocacy, both statutory and non-statutory, which all follow the same key principles including independence, empowerment, equality and accessibility.

Advocacy is important because it helps individuals understand what is happening, access services and challenge when things don't go the way they want them to.

Types of Advocacy

Statutory advocacy

There are different types of advocacy, each with different eligibility criteria. The law says that some types of advocacy must always be provided for eligible people, no matter where you live. We call these ‘statutory’ advocacy types.

Explore different types of statutory advocacy below

Independent NHS Complaints Advocacy

Independent NHS Complaints Advocacy supports people to raise their concerns and complaints about NHS care and treatment.

Government recognises that the NHS doesn't always get things right and it can be challenging for people to raise concerns and complaints. If you received treatment, or care, which you are unhappy about and you would like to raise a concern or complaint, Sefton Healthwatch can support you.

How can a Independent NHS Complaints Advocate help you?

To feel confident to raise your concern or complaint
Understand the NHS complaints process
Know who to raise your complaints to
Explore your rights and options at every stage to help you decide what to do
Understand how to raise complaints about care and support decisions
Providing self help information and offering guidance to make your NHS complaint
Find out about other services or organisations that can help

Care Act Advocacy

Care Act Advocates help people to understand and uphold their rights, set out in the Care Act 2014.

This involves supporting people to be involved in all decisions about their care and support, including local authority assessments, care reviews, care and support planning or safeguarding processes. You could be entitled to Care Act Advocacy if you find it difficult to access service and you feel you are not being listened to.

A Care Act Advocate help you to....

Understand your rights to care and support
Explore your options and choices
Be fully involved in decisions about your care and support
Challenge decisions around your care and support

Independent Mental Health Advocacy (often referred to as IMHA)

Independent Mental Health Advocates (IMHAs) support people with issues relating to their mental health care and treatment. They also help people understand their rights under the Mental Health Act.

What can an Independent Mental Health Advocate help you do?

Understand your rights and choices under the Mental Health Act
Be involved in decisions that affect you
Request a review of your section through access to a mental health tribunal
Be fully involved in your care planning and reviews

Independent Mental Health Advocates can support people who are:

detained under the Mental Health Act (except under short term sections 4, 5, 135 and 136)
conditionally discharged restricted patients
subject to a Community Treatment Order
subject to guardianship
being considered for S57 or S58A treatment, or Electro-Convulsive Therapy

Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (often referred to as IMCA)

Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCAs) support people who have been assessed as lacking capacity to make a specific decision. If a person does not have family or friends appropriate to consult and lacks capacity, an IMCA can help. They will work to ensure that you are fully represented in the decision making process.

When can an IMCA help?

An IMCA can support someone with best interests decisions about:

long-term accommodation (to hospital for more than 28 days or to other accommodation for more than 8 weeks)
serious medical treatment (this can be a decision about whether to stop or withhold treatment, as well as a decision to start it)

Also, if the person is or may be deprived of their liberty, the IMCA can provide support:

during an assessment under Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)
between the appointment of Relevant Person’s Representatives (RPRs) when an authorisation is in place
to the person, RPR or both when the authorisation is in place

Non statutory advocacy

Non statutory advocacy is a type of advocacy that supports individuals whose issues fall outside of the advocacy commissioned under legislation. Unlike the advocacy services described above there is no legal framework that governs the role of non statutory advocacy. Non statutory advocacy is also known as community advocacy or generic advocacy.