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Advocacy

Advocacy is representing someone’s views and wishes, acting or speaking on someone’s behalf, supporting people to make informed choices: giving someone a voice.

If you have difficulty expressing your views or need help to use our services or to make a complaint, we can put you in touch with an advocate.

There are a number of different types of advocacy available to service users. We currently offer the following types:

General advocacy - For general advocacy, advocates work with people on a one-to-one basis to ensure they have the right to ask, to question, to be heard and to receive answers. Advocates undertake a variety of tasks that can include supporting people at meetings, pursuing complaints and finding out information on behalf of the person they are supporting. Their role is to make sure the individual is informed of the options available to them together with the positives and negatives of making that particular choice.

In Dudley, general advocacy services are provided by:

  • Dudley Advocacy. Referral can be made by the following:
    Tel:01384 456877
    Fax:01384 456866
    Email: 
    Post: Dudley Advocacy, Medway House, Dixons Green Road, Dudley, West Midlands, DY2 7DJ
  • SAMh (Support Association for Mental Health). Referral can be made by the following:
    Tel:07804 285422
    Email: 
    Post:Support Association for Mental Health, Henry Lautch Centre, Bushey Fields Road, Bushey Fields, Dudley, DY1 2LZ
  • Complaints advocacy
  • Complaints advocacy is a service that provides help to an individual to make a complaint about the individual’s NHS care or treatment. It is a free, confidential service, independent of the NHS.

In Dudley, complaints advocacy services are provided by:

An IMCA service is provided for any person aged 16 or over, in situations when a decision must be made concerning:

  • Serious medical treatment.
  • Change of accommodation for reasons of health or care provision (28 days or more in a hospital or 8 weeks or more in a nursing or care home).

Or in situations where:

  • They have difficulty participating in decision making forums e.g. a care review.
  • They are involved in Adult Protection Procedures.

and

It is established that the person does not have the capacity to participate fully in the decision making process

and

They have no appropriate family or friends to represent them.

In Dudley, IMCA services are provided by: Dudley Advocacy.

Referral can be made by the following:
Tel: 01384 456877
Fax: 01384 456866
Email: 
Post: Dudley Advocacy, Medway House, Dixons Green Road, Dudley, West Midlands, DY2 7DJ