A Patron’s Visit: Witnessing the Impact of Advocacy Focus
A message from our patron, Jake Mills. One of the highlights of my visit was spending a day at the...
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The Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy Service is a statutory service provided under the Mental Capacity Act (2005), which aims to empower and protect people who lack capacity to make decisions for themselves. Advocacy Focus are commissioned by Trafford Council to deliver an IMCA service across Trafford.
Whenever the term ‘a person who lacks capacity’ is used, it means a person who is without the ability to make a particular decision at the time it needs to be made due to a disturbance or impairment of the mind or brain. This may be because they have a mental health diagnosis, or cognitive condition, is unconscious or barely conscious, perhaps as a result of an accident, or use/misuse of drugs or alcohol.
A person’s capacity may vary over time or may depend on the type of decision that needs to be made.
Some people may always lack capacity to make some decisions, for example, due to a condition or severe learning disability that has perhaps affected them from birth. Some such people may, however, go on to learn new skills that enable them to gain capacity and make decisions and take actions for themselves as their lives progress.
The role of an IMCA is to:
When a person lacks the mental capacity to make decisions about the care or treatment they need, and may be at risk if that care is not provided, it is sometimes in their best interests to deprive them of their liberty to keep them safe and prevent harm. Legislation exists to ensure that no one is deprived of their liberty without good reason, and that if someone does indeed need to be deprived of their liberty in these circumstances, that person still has specific rights.
One of these rights is to have a Relevant Person’s Representative (RPR) to protect their interests throughout the process. An RPR can be a friend or family member, but it is often a Paid RPR from Advocacy providers. Sometimes family and friends find it difficult to support their loved ones to challenge there deprivation of liberty as they feel the care home/or hospital is the best place for their loved one to stay.
Section 39 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 sets out the different IMCA roles:
Read more about Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding
Referrals for an IMCA can be accepted from any third party. However, we can only take formal instructions from the decision-maker who is responsible for the overall decision. All referrals in relation to DoLS must be made by the Supervisory Body.
Please complete a referral form using the link below.
If you are unsure whether a referral is appropriate, please contact us on 0300 323 0965 for more advice.
Upon receiving a referral, if the service user is eligible for the service, an IMCA will make contact with them within 3 working days. For DoLS cases, the IMCA will make contact sooner.
Make a referral