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Advocacy in the London Borough of Camden

In the London Borough of Camden, we provide several types of advocacy.  Click on the links below to take you to the service you want:

• Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA)
• Inpatient IMHA & Professional Service
• Community & BME IMHA Service
• Advocacy for Older People

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Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA):

IMCAs work with people who have been assessed as lacking capacity and who do not have family or friends who are appropriate to speak up for them. This work is always about decisions around serious medical treatment or changes in long term accommodation.

An IMCA can also support where there are concerns regarding Safeguarding or care reviews.

You can find out more about our IMCA and IMCA DoLs services in our IMCA section. This includes how to make an IMCA referral.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

Managing Authorities (Care Homes or NHS Hospitals) and Supervisory Bodies (Local Authority or Primary Care Trusts) have a duty to consult an IMCA when assessing a potential Deprivation of Liberty if there are no appropriate family or friends to consult about the decision. In some situations it may also be appropriate for an IMCA to be requested to offer support to the person deprived of their liberty, or their Relevant Person’s Representative after an authorisation has been granted.

The DoLS IMCA will ensure that all relevant factors, including the individual’s wishes and feelings are taken into consideration, by those making decisions about whether or not to grant a deprivation of liberty. If an authorisation has been granted the IMCA can support the person deprived of their liberty or their Representative to understand what DoLS mean and how it is affecting them. They can also support the person or Representative to challenge the authorisation if appropriate.

You can find out more about this subject in our DoLS section.

Relevant Person’s Representative

Within this service, we would represent a person who has been deprived of their liberty after a decision has been made to do so in their best interests. We would ensure that the reasons for the deprivation are still relevant and that any measures that are put in place to support the deprivation are being carried out.

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Inpatient IMHA & Professional Service

We provide advocacy to inpatients on all wards at:

• Huntley Centre, St. Pancras
• Highgate Mental Health Centre
• Queen Mary’s House, Hampstead.

What is inpatient Advocacy?

People may be admitted to hospital experiencing a wide range of mental health problems. They may recognise they need the support a hospital can offer and be admitted voluntarily (sometimes known as informal inpatients) or may be detained under sections of Mental Health Act.

Being in hospital can present many challenges for someone experiencing mental ill health and our advocacy service works to ensure that people who need our support can access it.

Referrals to Advocacy

There are two types of referrals, self and third party.
Self referrals are from the clients directly and third party referrals are from anyone with an interest in the client’s welfare. People eligible to make third party referrals can include care and support staff, social care and medical professionals, elected representatives, families, friends or carers

Referrals can be made by contacting our advocacy offices;

Huntley Centre, St. Pancras

Lesley Blanch. VoiceAbility Advocacy & IMHA Service, Huntley Centre St Pancras Hospital, 4 St Pancras Way London NW1 OPE - 020 3317 3902

Highgate Mental Health Centre

Donna Mian and Megan Karnes. The Highgate Mental Health Centre, Dartmouth Park Hill, N19 5NX - 0207 561 4118/4119

Queen Mary’s House, Hampstead

Karen Wilkinson. Queen Mary’s House, Room G-03 Ground Floor, 23 East Heath Road, Hampstead, London NW3 1DU - 020 3317 6580

Or you can:

1. Email ci-imha@voiceability.org
2. Approach one of the advocates when they visit the wards.

VoiceAbility also provides Instructed and Non-Instructed Advocacy (NIA) to elderly patients at Queen Mary’s House.

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Community & BME IMHA Service

We provide community IMHA and BME service to Camden residents who meet the following criteria.  You are;

• subject to Supervised Community Treatment Order under the 1983 Mental Health Act, otherwise known as being on a Community Treatment Order;
• subject to Guardianship under the Mental Health Act 1983
• a conditionally discharged patient
• an informal patient likely to be detained
• an informal or voluntary patient

If you are subject to the Mental Health Act, you may have questions about your rights, treatment and care. If you do, an independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) could help you. The independent Mental Health Advocacy is a specific type of advocacy provided to patients under the revised Mental Health Act 2007.

Our community advocates can:

• support and / or represent you at meetings, care planning meetings, and or doctor’s appointment
• help you to access mental health services or help refer you to other professionals e.g. solicitors or debt advisors
• provide information about community care and other support
• help you challenge a decision about your treatment or care
• help you make a complaint

Community Referrals

Referrals can be made by telephoning 0207 485 2424 or by emailing yvonne.lentge@voiceability.org
Or for BME email emanuela.disu@voiceability.org

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Older People's Advocacy

The Advocacy Service is available to all older people who are:

• At point of discharge from hospital, and those in community care homes
• Those who are directly affected by a change in the management or running of their care
• Those at the point of being assessed for continuing care and community care services.

What do we do?

• We listen to what you tell us.
• We won’t make judgements about you or what you want.
• We will take what you say seriously.

Information and Support

We will:

• Give you information on who to talk to about your concerns, your rights, and how to communicate effectively.
• Help to make you aware of the choices open to you
• Support you to speak up for yourself (self-advocate).
• Work with you, instead of working for you
• Explain hospital procedures
• Signpost you to relevant agencies, contact, solicitors
• Assist you in gaining your medical records
• Liaise with other organisations on your behalf

Representation

• We can support you in preparing for meetings, attending your ward rounds and making appeals for tribunals.
• We can attend meetings with you and stand alongside you whilst we raise your concerns (supported advocacy)

If you are unable to speak up for yourself, we can speak for you, (representational advocacy).

How do I contact the service?

You can contact us yourself by phone or you can ask someone else to contact us on your behalf, including ward staff or family members.

We visit the wards regularly. You can meet us by appointment or approach us informally on the ward

The Advocacy service is available to all and we aim to respond to any referral within 5 working days

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We are:

• Independent - We are not part of the Health Services
• Confidential - We do not share information without your permission unless you or someone else is at risk
• Working for you - We will not tell you what to do or make judgements

We do:

• Keep records of what we do
• Support people from any cultural background.
• Welcome feed-back, concerns, comments or complaints

If you have feedback on our services you can contact the Service Manager on the details below.