Independent Advocacy Policy Statement

Accessing independent statutory Advocacy for adult social care and health

1. Adults in Devon may be entitled to the support of an independent advocate to help them with health and social care issues, if they meet the thresholds for eligibility and priority for our statutory advocacy service.

2. Advocacy is taking action to help people say what they want, secure their rights, represent their interests and to get the services they need. Advocates can visit you at home or a place of your choice. If a paid advocate isn’t able to effectively help someone themselves, they may be able to find someone else who can.

3. Our overarching definition of eligibility and priority independent advocacy is when someone:

• could not reasonably be expected to understand or engage with health or social care procedures to resolve issues with the resources available to them
• needs their voice to be heard in relation to some specific health and social care rights or freedom issues
• has no one in their family or informal support network who is willing and able to advocate on their behalf.

4. Devon County Council commission statutory advocacy services through local specialist advocacy organisations. When we have identified that someone requires advocacy, a referral will be made to our contracted providers.

5. We arrange for the provision of advocacy in relation to the following legislation:

• statutory Independent Advocacy under the Care Act.
• statutory advocacy under the Mental Capacity Act for people who lack capacity
• statutory advocacy under the Mental Health Act for people who are detained in hospitals or on a Community Treatment Order
• some statutory advocacy for NHS complaints

6. Devon County Council may also be able to provide some non-statutory advocacy. Eligibility for statutory advocacy and priority for non-statutory advocacy is determined by the council.

7. To receive further information:

• Web: www.devonadvocacy.org.uk
• Telephone: 0845 231 1900*
• Email: devonadvocacy@livingoptions.org

*Calls are charged a local rate. Calls from mobiles may be higher.

Policy Details

Version	2.0
Strategic Owner  Strategic Owner	Keri Storey, Head of Integrated Adult Social Care Operations   Solveig Wright, Head of Integrated Adult Social Care Commissioning
Business owner	Paul Giblin, Involvement Manager
Author	Mari Thynne, Senior Policy & Executive Support Officer
Date of approval and commencement	April 2015
Last review date	October 2022
Last reviewer	Mari Thynne, Senior Policy & Executive Support Officer   Paul Giblin, Involvement Manager
Next review date	October 2024