Operations & Development Manager: Ben Robinson
Our partners in running this service: North West Regional Secure Commissioning Team
Referrals accepted from: Within the Hospital
About the service
Together is the contracted independent organisation that provides The Independent Patients Advocacy Service and Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) to the service users at:
- Ashworth Hospital high secure services (All Male Service Users)
- Scott Clinic Medium secure service (Male/Female Service Users)
- Rathbone Low secure service (All Male Service Users).
The hospitals are based in Merseyside area.
What we provide
The IPAS is specifically contracted to provide:
- An Independent Mental Health Advocate
- Support for and at care-plan approach meeting (CPA)
- Annual and half-yearly review meetings
- Community meetings
- Provision of support for Mental Health Act tribunals under IMHA
- Patient and staff training to facilitate development of self-advocacy. Broadly this means helping individuals to develop or relearn the skills of speaking for themselves that they will need in the future, particularly when they return to the community.
- Safeguarding Vulnerable Group Act 2006(Effective 2009) Advocates have a duty to disclose any issues relayed to them or observed by them relating to abuse to Safeguarding leading person
The service is also involved in other in-house activities which help with information collation and promoting service user involvement.
How we work
The advocacy process involves working with people to help them examine their options, plan what action to take and consider possible consequences, with the aim of achieving the best outcome. This can mean accepting that the ideal outcome is not always going to be possible and some form of compromise may be necessary and is an individual choice.
Service delivery is geared towards clients retaining responsibility for their own decisions. For this reason, the service does not give advice but good-quality information instead. Issues that we cover can include:
- Signposting
- Repatriation
- Legal representation
The service philosophy is that clients should be encouraged to resolve any disputes at the lowest level whenever possible. We will offer assistance with other areas of concern depending on resources available but we have to give priority to our contractual commitments.
The advocacy team has a mix of cultures and diversity within the team. This enables the team to meet some of the complex needs of service users.
More information
For more details about this service, pleae contact them direct.