Our advocates support people to raise their concerns and complaints, ensuring people are fully represented in the decision-making choices that impact their lives We provided Oscar(not his real name) advocacy support, and this how we helped.
Oscar's Story
Oscar is a young gentleman who lived in a supported living home in the community, where he had lived for a few years after moving from the home he had shared with his parents all his life. Oscar has a learning disability and cerebral palsy and therefore relies on personal assistants to help him with his care and support. Oscar's parents had raised concerns to adult social care as they did not think all his care and support needs were being met and they also felt he was being treated unequally to other residents in the home, after being excluded from trips away, as he was a wheelchair user.
Oscar's mother Initially raised a safeguarding concern due to concerns relating to his skin integrity and subsequently a review of Oscar's care and support was undertaken by the local authority. Although Oscar's parents were supporting him through the safeguarding, they felt Oscar would benefit from someone independent to support their son through the review of his care, as they felt it was important that he was given the chance to decide where he wants to live and be able to express his views and wishes without feeling like he might upset his parents.
Support from the Advocate
The advocate visited Oscar on several occasions throughout the process and was able to ensure he was clear on the rights and choices available to him. The advocate created a story board for each of the options open to Oscar and this helped him to identify what was important to him and to clearly communicate his views and wishes. The advocate also supported Oscar to think about what would be different for him if he moved from his current placement to a different care home and how this would affect him. The advocate gathered Oscar's views and wishes and ensured they were clearly communicated to the social worker undertaking the review of his care and support.
The advocate attended the review meeting with Oscar and the social worker, during which the advocate ensured that Oscar's wishes were heard.
Oscar’s wishes included; keeping his current personal assistants, continuing to volunteer at a local organisation, fixing his gait trainer so that he could continue strengthening his legs, exercising more, and living somewhere with wider corridors so that he could manoeuvre himself with greater ease.
The impact
The care provider who had supported Oscar were inspected by the Quality Care Commission, as the safeguarding concern raised by Oscar’s Mum, indicated neglect and at present Oscar’s parents are seeking legal advice in pursuing this matter further.
However, Oscar did get everything he asked for, and he successfully moved to a different supported living home.
The advocate visited Oscar after he had settled into his new home and said:
“I had the pleasure of meeting him at his new home, fit for a king, which he is! It has exceeded his parents and Oscar’s dreams.”
If you would like to know more about our Care Act Advocacy service you can click the link here or download our Care Act Advocacy Good To Know Guide