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Circles
Advocacy Project, Edinburgh
C/O Royal Edinburgh Hospital
Morningside Place
Edinburgh
EH10 5HF
Tel No: 0131 537 6004
Fax: 0131 537 6004
Email:
admin.edinburgh@circlesnetwork.org.uk
Project
Development
Commencing in
October 2004, the Circles Network Advocacy Project (Circles Advocacy) has been
providing independent individual advocacy to the following people receiving
services at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital:
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People living in the acute
admission wards (Wards 2-6)
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People living in the
Rehabilitation wards (Swanston, Ettrick, Craiglee and North Wing)
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People staying in the Intensive
Psychiatric Care Unit (IPCU)
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People staying at the Orchard
Clinic – a medium secure forensic unit for people who have offended
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People living in the Care for the
Elderly wards (Canaan, Nile, Jordan, Kinnair, Wards 8 and 14) – which
includes older people staying on ‘acute admission’ wards and those living more
permanently on ‘continuing care’ wards.
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Since December 2006, to people living on the Robert
Ferguson Unit, the only Acquired Brain Injury and Challenging Behaviour unit
in Scotland. However, this is currently only on a case by case basis.
The Team
The project currently has a project leader, 4 full-time advocates and an
administrator.
Katie James - Project Leader
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Hi, my name is Katie
James. I was born in Londonderry,
Northern Ireland but spent most
of my childhood and adolescence in Biggar, Lanarkshire.
I have had a varied and rewarding career so far, including work with
Vietnamese boat refugees teaching the under 5’s basic English language;
working for the Overseas Development Administration maintaining overseas
aid projects; work as a Care Assistant; social worker;
manager of a home for older people; resource
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manager managing services for older
people, and now as an advocate with Circles Network Advocacy Project,
working specifically on the Care of the Elderly and Robert Ferguson wards. I recently returned to live
in Scotland following 6 years of living and working in Spain. |
Alex Campbell -
Advocate
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I have been
involved in supporting people with mental health differences since 1990.
Since that time, I have learned from listening to people with mental
health differences the frustrations they have felt in not having enough
influence or control on matters concerning their care. I have since begun
campaigning for changes in the system. It has been exciting to see that
the new Mental Health Act of Scotland, which took effect in October 2005,
has addressed some of these issues, including the right for people to have
an independent advocate.
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I was even more pleased to be offered the chance to be part of this welcomed
change by becoming employed as an advocate with Circles Network. The need
for advocacy in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital has been reflected in the
number of people who we have already supported with a number of issues to do
with their care and treatment. There is also some early evidence that
people are feeling encouraged to advocate for themselves, which is one of
the most important part of our aims and objectives. |
Ivan Barry - Advocate
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I have spent 10 years working
in mental health services, from drop in volunteering to support work in
the community and residential settings. I have worked in private and
state run services. I have been active in campaigning for improved
services and have been involved in setting up and running new programmes in
the UK, Ireland and in the USA, working with statutory partners as well as
‘user’ or ‘client’ groups in an effort to ensure that voices are heard and
that services reflect that voice wherever possible. I have spoken at conferences and hosted workshops on a number of related
mental health and social issues in the UK, Ireland and the USA.
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I have assisted in the setting up of several groups for
those who hear voices and have partnered up with clinical psychology teams
and support professionals to provide training to those who wish to work with
voice hearers more proactively. |
Peter Le
Riche - Young Person's Advocate
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I am
Peter Le Riche and am 40 years old. I have lived in Scotland for most of
my life but have travelled quite a bit doing different, unrelated jobs
along the way, such as an English Teacher, Zoo keeper, chef, and gardener
among others. After obtaining my degree in Social Anthropology in the
1990s I became involved with mental health care and related issues. With
the experiences I gained I became an Advocate working for Circles Network
in January 2006.
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I feel
privileged to have obtained this invaluable and responsible position and
look forward to contributing in helping individuals empower themselves by
expressing their views and wishes. |
Young People's Unit
The Circles Network Advocacy Project
also provides advocacy to people living on the Young Peoples’ Unit at the Royal
Edinburgh Hospital. For further information, see
Young Peoples’ Advocacy, Edinburgh.
Funding
Circles Advocacy is a joint commissioned
project between NHS Lothian Primary and Community Division and the City of
Edinburgh Council. The project is an organisation independent from the Royal
Edinburgh Hospital and the City of Edinburgh Council.
The
Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003
The Circles Network Advocacy Project is
a direct result of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act
2003. The Act gives everyone with a mental health
difference,
learning difficulty or personality disorder the right to access an independent
advocate, i.e. someone to provide support and help to enable a person to express
their own views about their care and treatment. The effective date of the Act is
October 2005.
What is
Independent Advocacy?
“Independent advocacy is a way to help
you to make your voice stronger and to have as much control as possible over
your own life. It is called "independent" because it is not tied to the people
who provide other types of services. It does not make decisions on your behalf
and it does not put words in your mouth. Instead it helps you get the
information you need to make real choices and gives you help to get your choices
across. Independent advocacy is there to help you decide what you want to say
and then help you to say it.”
(Definition supplied by the Scottish
Executive)
Circles Advocacy provides individual
advocacy, working with people on a one-to-one basis. For collective advocacy,
see the Patients’ Council
web page.
What the
Circles Network Advocacy Project can offer:
- Working at the REH, we are
in a privileged position representing the views of people staying at the
hospital.
- The advocacy provided can
take many forms including:
- Providing support by
simply being present at a meeting
- Formally representing
someone’s views at a range of meetings
- Speaking on behalf of
people when asked to do so and facilitate the empowerment of people to speak
for themselves in expressing their own views with support from an advocate
- Supporting people who may
not have previously given input into decisions affecting their care and
treatment through facilitating appropriate methods of communication for each
person being supported
- For people who have
difficulties expressing themselves independently or who are deemed to lack
capacity, a safeguarding advocacy role will be available, in order to get a
broader picture of a person's life and how best to act on behalf of that
individual, acknowledging their beliefs, customs and views and former life
choices or ways of being.
- Providing information on
rights, practical issues and a range of community resources available
- Utilising Person Centred
Planning tools to facilitate an advocacy role
Circles
Network Advocacy Project at the REH believes:
- Everyone has the right to
have a voice and be heard
- People have the right to
access an independent person to support them in making their views clear,
valued and recognised
- People have the right to
be supported in a way which acknowledges their uniqueness and their specific
situation
- People have the right to
have access to information relating to their care and treatment and in turn
have more control over their own lives
- Advocacy is an opportunity
to facilitate empowerment through the use of person-centred planning tools and
techniques
As a developing project which is both
challenging and exciting, we would welcome any comments or suggestions you may
have in order to make Circles Advocacy Project at the REH one which reflects the
following vision……
“Circles Advocacy at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital will be
an accessible, responsive and culturally sensitive place for all people who stay
here. It will be a place where people are recognized as equal individuals with
talents, skills, needs and wishes.
We aim to provide an open and supportive space for people to be listened to, to speak up and to be
heard”
Links
to other organisations -
click here for details
Please contact us!
Andrew Duncan Clinic
Royal Edinburgh Hospital
Morningside Place
Edinburgh EH10 5HF
Tel No: 0131 537 6004
Fax: 0131 537 6004
Email:
admin.edinburgh@circlesnetwork.org.uk
Circles Network Scotland
Scottish Charity number: SC038068
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