Dorset Mental Health Advocacy (DMHA) and Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA)

The Dorset Mental Health Advocacy service offers assistance on a range of matters. There are certain issues we cannot help with however, which may require you seeking more specialist advice.

We can:

• Offer support to accepted clients at meetings, court appearances, tribunals, ward rounds and CPA reviews
• Help make official complaints and prepare documents
• Help you express your point of view to the right people and get your voice heard
• Find expert advice, and liaise with official agencies - including benefits agencies
• Ensure you are treated in accordance with your rights

But we cannot:

• Give you money or benefits
• Give detailed legal, personal or medical advice
• Offer counseling, befriending or emotional support
• Help you if your problem is more appropriately dealt with by another agency
• Respond to a crisis or respond out of hours

The Independent Mental Health Advocacy service is a free and confidential service for people who are subject to the Mental Health Act.

What is an Independent Mental Health Advocate?

An IMHA is an advocate who is specially trained to work with people who are subject to the Mental Health Act. This means most people who are detained or 'sectioned' under the act. You can also get help from an IMHA if you are conditionally discharged, under Guardianship or on Supervised Community Treatment.

If you are an 'informal' patient you will also be eligible for help from an IMHA if you are being considered for serious treatment, such as neurosurgery for a mental disorder, or ECT if you are under 18 years old.

Our IMHAs are completely separate from the NHS and Social Services and work for the Dorset Mental Health Forum, which is an independent charity.

How can an IMHA help you?

An IMHA can help you obtain information and understanding about:

• The parts of the Mental Health Act which apply to you and what these mean
• Your rights under the Act
• The rights other people (such as your nearest relative) have under the Act
• Any conditions or restrictions that apply to you
• Any medical treatment you are receiving or which is being proposed

An IMHA can also help you exercise your rights, including:

• How you can appeal about your detention under the Act
• Support you in putting forward your views and wishes at ward rounds and other meetings, such as Managers' meetings and Tribunals
• Speak on your behalf and represent you
• Access other support services
• Help you obtain suitable support for when you leave hospital

How do I contact an IMHA?

• You can telephone either of the numbers provided on the Contact tab above.
• You can ask someone else to contact us on your behalf.

We will aim to return your call within 5 working days and, if you wish, visit you as soon as possible after our call.

Although anyone can ask an IMHA to visit you, including your nearest relative or a health professional, it is your choice if you wish to meet with one or not.

What if I am not entitled to an IMHA?

Our organisation also provides a general mental health advocacy service for people who are not eligible for an IMHA. Click on the DMHA tab for further details.

We have an open referral system. You can refer yourself in confidence, you do not have to be referred by a doctor, CPN etc. You do not have to have a care plan, have a care coordinator or be under the Community Mental Health Team to use the Advocacy Service.

We help you solve specific problems and difficulties but we do not provide casework or long term support.

You can make an appointment to come into the Dorchester office or we can find a mutually convenient place nearer to you. We do our best to come and meet clients and this could be a public place such as a café or a GP surgery, local CMHT office or resource centre.

We occasionally do home visits but only in exceptional circumstances.

We aim to provide a service that is welcoming and accessible to everyone regardless of ethnicity, faith, colour, gender, sexual orientation or physical ability. Please let us know what your needs are and we will do our best to meet them.

The Dorset Mental Health Advocacy service was established in 1993 and was one of the first mental health advocacy services in the South West of England.

The service was originally managed by Rethink (then known as The National Schizophrenia Fellowship), but came under the Dorset Mental Health Forum's management in 2002. The advocacy service covers the entire county of Dorset with the exception of Bournemouth and Poole and currently employs three advocates and an administrator.

The scope of the advocacy service has been extended to provide Independent Mental Health Advocacy for people subject to the Mental Health Act. Our advocates are specially trained and can be called upon to provide detailed information for those under the Act; help exercise your rights by assisting with appeals, put your views and wishes forward, speak on your behalf and ensure suitable support services are available to you when you leave hospital.

If you think an advocate may be able to help you, please contact:

For North, West and South Dorset

Catherine Bramble

Tel: 01305 261483
Mobile: 07749 039360

email: catherinebramble@dorsetmentalhealthforum.org.uk

Robin Francis

Tel: 01305 261483
Mobile: 07969 266872

email: robinfrancis@dorsetmentalhealthforum.org.uk

For East Dorset, excluding Bournemouth and Poole

John Parkinson-Hardman

Tel: 01305 261483
Mobile: 07946 796268

email: johnph@dorsetmentalhealthforum.org.uk

Main Office

Dorset Mental Health Advocacy
29-29a Durngate Street
Dorchester
DT1 1JP

Tel: 01305 261483
Fax: 01305 261049

email: dmha@dorsetmentalhealthforum.org.uk