Ruth Francis, Service Manager, Inspiring Change Manchester

On the 18th June VOICES delivered Care Act Advocacy Training to the Inspiring Change Manchester Service Delivery Team. Below Ruth Francis, ICM Service Manager, kindly gives us some feedback and shares with us how the learning has been useful in practice:

Feedback – Frontline staff and Managers found this training very useful and informative.  Bruno (VOICES) is a very knowledgeable facilitator who knows about the subject matter and was able to talk through the toolkit and different options available to staff when working with vulnerable adults and people at risk.  Staff advised that they now feel much more confident in challenging the decisions of the local authority, and have a better understanding of the options available to them in order to advocate better for clients and can identify the appropriate way forward, whether that be raising a safeguarding concern or requesting an assessment or both.

Examples of where this has already changed staff action  – since the training an Engagement Worker has made a referral for an assessment for a homeless man (previously we had only raised safeguarding concerns for this person) –  the local authority have agreed to carry out an assessment involving a capacity assessment, and they have advised that they will aim to do this while the person is still rough sleeping.

Regarding another client – Staff were recently informed that an assessment could only be completed by the local authority when the person was in suitable accommodation (at the time he was in temporary accommodation) we now know that we can challenge this and that unsuitable / no accommodation is not a reason to delay/cancel an assessment.

As a team we will follow up on this training session by going through the toolkit together, and agreeing as a team how we will use it going forwards, to support each other in feeling more empowered and confident in advocating for ICM clients.

I would recommend this training to other agencies working with vulnerable / disadvantaged people, and people with multiple / complex needs.

Thanks, Ruth

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