Advocacy in mental health

Explains what advocacy is and how it can help you. Gives information on different types of advocacy, including statutory advocates, what sort of situations an advocate can help you with, and how to find an advocate.

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How can I complain about an advocate?

There may be times when you are unhappy with the service you have received from an advocate. But each advocacy service should have a clear process in place to deal with complaints.

To complain about an advocate, you should:

ask the advocacy service for a copy of its complaints procedure
follow the process in the document.

If this is hard to do by yourself, you could ask a friend, family member or carer for help. The advocacy service provider should also be able to help you get independent support to make or follow-up a complaint.

Can I change my advocate?

If you are unhappy with your advocate, you could ask your advocacy service provider if you could see a different person. However, depending on how many people work there and how busy they are, it might not be possible to see a different advocate.

See our page on finding an advocate for more information.

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If you are in crisis right now and want to talk to someone urgently then you could call Samaritans on 116 123 (freephone). Our pages on crisis services have more options.

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This information was published in March 2018.

This page is currently under review. All content was accurate when published.

References and bibliography available on request.

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