West Berkshire Adult Advocacy Services - AWARD

The Council is tendering a contract for West Berkshire Adult Advocacy Services in two lots: Lot 1: Healthwatch, NHS Complaints, Learning Disability Partnership Board (LDPB).

Lot 2: Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA), including Relevant Person's Paid Representative (RPPR), Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA), Safeguarding advocacy and Care Act advocacy Lot 1 The Healthwatch Service for West Berkshire will be the independent consumer champion for patients, all those using health and social care services and carers, as well as the wider public, ensuring that the views and feedback from patients, Service Users and carers are an integral part of local commissioning across health and social care.

The work of Healthwatch services in West Berkshire will help to achieve the nationally stated aims of ensuring: o People are at the heart of all health and social care services; o Health and social care outcomes in England are among the best in the world; and there is promotion of the joining up of local NHS services, social care and health improvement.

For the purpose of describing the requirements and desired outcomes from the Healthwatch service in this service specification, 'people' and 'local people' refers to all residents in West Berkshire and includes: o Patients and users of health and social care services; o Carers (in their role as carers but also in their own right, about their own treatment / experience etc.); and o Temporary residents (including prisoners, holiday-makers, students, Gypsies and travellers, and children and young people on placement) within West Berkshire.

NHS Complaints: the successful Tenderer will deliver services that meet the legal requirements for independent NHS complaints advocacy services as described in the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and any other regulations.

Professional staff use advocacy skills to provide practical support and direction to Service Users in order to assist them in finding a resolution to their complaint.

The service must: o Focus on empowering and assisting people to go through the NHS Complaints procedure; o Help safeguard the rights of Service Users as set out in both health policy and law; o Empower Service Users to self-advocate as far as they are able; and o Support Service Users to get their views heard.

The West Berkshire Learning Disability Partnership Board (LDPB,) will facilitate and have genuine influence and achieve positive change in the lives of people with learning disabilities in West Berkshire.

This service will also be responsible for monitoring grants for projects to a predetermined value that support people with a learning disability on behalf of the Learning Disability Partnership Board and West Berkshire Council Social Services.

Lot 2 IMCA (including RPPR) will provide independent support to and represent any individual who is assessed as lacking the capacity to make dec...