Meet the team

Danielle Atherton

Head of Advocacy and Influence

Jenny Mannion

Advocacy Team Manager

Kate

Advocacy Team Manager

Matt Seargent

Advocacy Team Manager

Patrick Harte

Advocacy Service Manager (CAS)

Jill Dye

Independent Advocate

Sophie Robson

Operations Director (Cloverleaf)

Stacey Heritage

Service Manager (Cloverleaf)

Suzi Henderson

Chief Executive (Cloverleaf)

Angela

Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA)

“My name is Angela and I often work as an Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA). This is when I support people who are subject to the Mental Health Act to have their voice heard. I love being able to support people to know their rights and how to exercise them, as well as helping them to feel there is someone there just for them, as often people find hospitals and doctors quite intimidating.”

Georgie

DoLS RPR

“I regularly work as a Relevant Persons Representative for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS RPR). DOLS is a legal framework that protects people who have been deprived of their liberty within a care home or hospital setting. As an RPR it is my role to ensure people’s rights are being upheld in line with the DOLS and enable that person to have their voice heard. I do this by supporting the person to be involved in all aspects relating to the DOLS. This involves ensuring conditions are being met and passing on a person’s views around new conditions they would like to be added; reviewing the DOLS and making sure the person’s views and wishes are listened to as part of this process; enabling them to voice any complaints or concerns they may have; and where the person objects to their placement, make an application to the Court of Protection. I have been an advocate for 10 years now and feel very strongly about empowering people to have a voice in how they want to live and receive care, especially for those people who have been deemed to lack capacity.”

Jenny

IMCA

I am an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA). I support people to have their voices heard if they lack capacity to make decisions around serious medical treatments or changes in accommodation. I enjoy meeting different people and ensuring their rights are upheld at times when they are less able to do this for themselves.

Jill

Generic Mental Health Advocate

A Generic Mental Health Advocate does a wide variety of things. It can be as little as: signposting a client to a local ‘Eating Disorder Group’; attending an appointment with them at their local GP to ensure their voice is heard or; providing up to 20 hours of support in accessing the mental health services that they want and getting them referred appropriately.

I like the variety of the work, the majority of which is over the phone, helping individuals move forward, however small that step might be.

Shaun

Care Act Advocate

“A Care Act Advocate, introduced by the Care Act 2014, supports individuals who have difficulty being involved in or making decisions about their care and support needs. They help individuals understand their rights, participate in assessments and reviews, and ensure their voices are heard. Advocates are appointed by local authorities when an individual has “substantial difficulty” and no other appropriate support is available. I do a lot of Care act work and I’m passionate about the individual having their voice heard even if others think its an unwise decision.”

Sunny

IMCA

I work as an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA). For someone to have an IMCA they will lack the capacity to make the decision in hand, themselves at that time, so it is really important that decisions aren’t just influenced by other people’s opinions and it is imperative that the person is involved in all aspects of the decision-making process as much as possible. I enjoy getting to know the person and tailoring my approach to suit them; I work really hard to ensure that a person’s views and wishes are heard.

Victoria

NHS Complaints Advocate

“I regularly support people as their independent advocate during the NHS complaint process. Everyone has the right to make a complaint about any aspect of NHS care, treatment or service and is entitled to an advocate to support them through the process if they wish. Advocates empower people with accessible information and guidance throughout the complaint process so that they can take as much control of their complaint as possible and have their voice heard. I am passionate about supporting people to realise how strong and powerful their voice can be and increase their confidence in speaking out about their concerns.”