Winterbourne View Never AgainEvent June 2014

Winterbourne View Never Again Event

• June 4th 2014 Advocacy in Greenwich held an event.

• 40 people attended from mainly Advocacy organisations in London.

• On the day we looked at how to make sure that people have good advocacy in ATUs.

A Charter for Good Advocacy

We talked about a Charter for good advocacy

• What advocates should know about e.g the law and rights.

• What skills advocates should have e.g communication

• What an advocates role should be and how important it is not to step outside the role.

Charter for ATUs

We also talked about how ATUs should work with an advocate.

• Accessible Information about Advocacy

• Training for staff in ATUs

• Good communication between ATUs and local advocacy organisations, and ATUs and advocates.

What we need to support us and support people who are placed in

ATUs

• A Network for Advocacy organisations in London

• An Accessible Information Pack for people who are placed in ATUs

• A Directory of Advocacy organisations in London

• A list of ATUs in London

An Accessible Information Pack for people who are placed in ATUs

• Getting it Right for people with learning disabilities- Guidance for Families

• www.england.nhs.uk/london/2014/10/10/learning-disabilities/

Directory of Advocacy services in London

Examples of good practice

Bev Paterson Advocacy in Greenwich

Equality and Diversity Training – Presentation – © Copyright Advocacy in Greenwich 2014

Advocacy in Greenwich

• In 2012 NHS Greenwich commissioned us to find out about the advocacy needs of all the people they had placed in ATUs

• Some people had an IMHA but the organisation had no connection with the local area.

• Over half of the people we visited didn’t have an advocacy service.

The benefits of advocacy from the person’s

Borough

• Reassurance

• Extra listening ear

• Observation

Why?

• Truly independent

• More intensive/ focused

• Appropriate

The disadvantages

Travel time…….

The numbers

• 5 people in ATUs

• 4 have moved closer to home

Case study

• Consistent advocacy through a range of settings

• Long term advocacy partnership

• The person has shown empowerment