SandwellWest Midlands > Sandwell POhWER has worked in Sandwell since 2006. Last year we provided advocacy support to 277 Sandwell residents. We are pleased to announce that POHWER now provides IMCA and IMHA services in Sandwell and continues to deliver NHS complaints and Community/Care Act Advocacy. We offer the following services in Sandwell: NHS Complaints Advocacy for people who wish to make a complaint about treatment provided under the NHS Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA), including Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and Relevant Person's Paid Representative (RPPR) service is a statutory advocacy service to support vulnerable people who lack capacity and need to make important decisions but have no representatives as defined under the Mental capacity Act 2005. Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA). Anyone who is detained in a secure Mental Health setting in Sandwell is entitled to access support from an IMHA. This contract also provides an issue based advocacy service for informal inpatients of Sandwell (Hallam St) Hospital via drop ins. Community Advocacy for any person in Sandwell receiving a care/welfare services who has age-related needs, disabilities or prescribed physical or mental health conditions. Care Act Advocacy whereby Local Authority social care teams (and designated organisations) can make a referral to our service for you using the referral form Care Act referral form Volunteering in Sandwell. If you would like to apply all you need to do is fill in the online application form and a member of our volunteer team will contact you to talk to you in more detail about local volunteer opportunities in your area. How do I get support from an advocate? To make a referral to the advocacy services in Sandwell, you can download the forms below: NHS Complaints Advocacy referral form Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA) referral form Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) referral form Community Advocacy referral form Community Advocacy (including the Care Act) referral form If you are not sure whether you can get an advocate, or for more information, advice and support in your area, you can contact us on 0300 456 2370 or email [email protected]. Local Resources Download the Sandwell IMCA leaflet (pdf) Download the Sandwell IMHA leaflet (pdf) Download the Sandwell NHS Complaints Advocacy leaflet (pdf) Download the Sandwell Community Advocacy leaflet (pdf) Download the Sandwell Community Advocacy leaflet in EasyRead (pdf) Download the Sandwell volunteering leaflet (pdf) Adele Needed Advocacy Support Read Adele’s story of how, with advocacy support, she has been able to attend meetings in order to improve her health and well being and also to progress her NHS complaint. Read Adele's story here POhWER Sandwell held a care act event Sandwell Care Act event held on the 6th of September was a great success. This event was a great opportunity to increase Sandwell’s Community understanding of the legislation and how Care Act Advocacy can benefit people. At POhWER we offer Care Act Advocacy for the people of Sandwell. Pohwer are passionate about helping people be heard. The Care Act was introduced in 2014 to protect and support vulnerable people in the community. We want to promote the Care Act so that people are getting the support that they might need. The Care Act says that local councils must involve people in decisions about their care and support needs. If it would be difficult for someone to be involved in deciding on their needs without support, the council must make sure they get the appropriate support. If the person doesn’t have someone who can help them, they have the right to have an independent Care Act advocate. Care Act advocates support Adults who need care and support, Carers, and Children who are moving to adult care services. If the council is making decisions about a person’s care they must consider whether they would have ‘substantial difficulty’ being involved. Substantial difficulty would be if they have problems with understanding information about the decisions. This can include remembering information, difficulty in using this information to be involved in the decisions or being unable to tell people your views, wishes and feelings. The council then needs to consider whether the person has an ‘appropriate individual’ to support them. This is someone who the council agree will be available and able to support them. It can be someone in their family or a friend but should not be someone that person doesn’t want to support them. An advocate will support the person and be involved as much as possible in decisions about the care of the person. The advocates can help when the council is making a needs assessment, making a carer’s assessment, making or reviewing a care and support plan or having a safeguarding enquiry (to check if you might be being abused) or arranging for a Safeguarding Adults Review. The aim of the Care Act event in Sandwell was to inform the people of Sandwell of their rights and what support is out there for people in the area. POhWER prides itself on informing people and getting their voices heard and events like this do exactly that. If you require help and support or are a carer that cares for someone that needs an advocate please contact POhWER on 0300 456 2370