Helping Jimmy

What was the person’s situation before working with Advocacy Focus?

Jimmy* lives in a nursing home and has an Acquired Brain Injury, recently his short term memory has become impaired and there has been a decline in his mental health. Because of this, Jimmy has been unable to make important decisions about his life and some major decisions have had to be made for him. Despite his illness, Jimmy expressed his unhappiness about living in the nursing home and just wanted to return home.

Why did he need an Advocate?

As it was deemed that Jimmy lacked capacity to consent to decisions about his care and living arrangements, he was subject to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, preventing him from leaving the nursing home. Ultimately, this was to keep him safe from harm. However, Jimmy remained desperately unhappy and often stated his desire to move home. Jimmy wished to challenge his capacity assessment and his stay in the nursing home under a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

To do this, Jimmy needed a Relevant Person’s Representative, but this role can often be confusing and complicated and none of Jimmy’s family felt comfortable acting on his behalf.  This is where Advocacy Focus came in.

How we helped

Our Independent Advocate, Naomi, was appointed as Jimmy’s Relevant Person’s Representative. She worked with Jimmy for over 15 months, gaining his trust and helping him through the lengthy and complex legal routes that Jimmy wished to pursue. Naomi was very patient with Jimmy, explaining in every detail the processes of the routes he was undertaking, keeping him aware of his rights at all times and helping him communicate effectively in important meetings about his life.

Everybody has the right to challenge decisions about their lives and our Independent Advocate provided a lifeline to Jimmy when he felt no one was listening to him.

Jimmy was reluctant to open up to Naomi at first, but once she explained to him that she was independent and there only to help him, after a few visits he began to trust her and look forward to her visits. He revealed to Naomi that he didn’t want to appear happy living in the care home and this was the reason why he refused to join in activities. As Naomi got to know Jimmy, she came to see that he was a very intelligent man, able to understand a lot more than what others thought.

“Everybody has the right to challenge decisions about their lives.”

What was the outcome?

Naomi firstly supported Jimmy through the legal process of raising a section 21a Challenge to challenge his stay in the nursing home. She also acted as Litigation Friend at court and attended Round Table and Multidisciplinary Meetings (MDT) on his behalf.

Secondly, Naomi supported Jimmy emotionally and put Jimmy’s happiness and enjoyment first. She encouraged him to join in activities and worked with the nursing home to arrange activities he might enjoy such as going for fish and chips and evening walks; things he used to do at home.

Why was advocacy support so effective?

With the help of Naomi, Jimmy began to live his life again and became more content in the nursing home. Jimmy felt and still feels that Naomi is “the only person he can be truly honest with” and they continue to write to each other weekly and speak on the phone regularly.

Naomi continues to support Jimmy to challenge his Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards to try and return to his own home, but this can be a complex and lengthy process. Whilst this remains on-going he has found some happiness in the changes to his care and is taking one day at a time with the support of Advocacy Focus. 

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the people we support

• Read more about being a Relevant Person’s Representative by clicking here