A review of advocacy

We have three webinars coming up in Spring 2024.

The webinars will give a full rundown of the evidence and recommendations from the report. You will also hear from self-advocates and carers about the difference advocacy can make.

Advocates, Tuesday 5 March, 10am-2pm

Find out more and register for the advocates' webinar.

Commissioners, Wednesday 6 March, 10am-2pm

Find out more and register for the commissioners' webinar.

People and families, Monday 11 March, 10am-2pm

Find out more and register for the people and families' webinar.

Easy Read information about people and families' webinar.

What people need

1) People need advocacy to be more easily available.

2) People need advocacy to be commissioned independently and for the advocacy offer to be more consistent across areas and regions.

3) People need access to more holistic, longer term, person led advocacy. People need to be able to build a relationship with their advocate.

4) People need advocates to be present on the ward, including children and young people’s units.

5) People and their families and support networks need access to reliable and consistent information about advocacy.

6) People need their advocates to work alongside their family members.

What advocates need

1) There needs to be clear standards so advocates have better training and support. Advocates need the right skills, knowledge and approaches to effectively support people with a learning disability and autistic people – currently not all advocates working with people have these.

2) Advocates need to be supported in their practice to ensure they are providing effective, person led, independent support.

3) Advocates need to exercise professional curiosity and have a good understanding of human rights and safeguarding in order to ensure they are provide effective support.

What the system needs

1) Advocacy should be monitored to ensure adequate availability and quality in each region.

2) People with a learning disability and autistic people should have key roles in ensuring advocacy is meeting people’s needs and hospitals are listening to people properly.

3) In order to ensure we achieve the goals above, we need a national advocacy strategy and task force to plan and action the change we need to see.

Appendix 1: Read more information about the partners: Bringing us Together, the Challenging Behaviour Foundation, NDTi, People First Independent Advocacy and Speakup Self Advocacy.

Read more about the different kinds of advocacy.