R&RA welcomes new NICE guidance on adult advocacy service

The Relatives and Residents Association are pleased to welcome the publication of new guidance on adult advocacy services by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

We took the opportunity to participate in the consultation process for the development of these guidelines, where we emphasised the importance of acknowledging and respecting the value of support from friends and family.

We are pleased to see that some of our comments were taken on board in the final guidelines. The guidelines now give greater emphasis to the role of family and friends in advocacy, and highlight the importance of advocates communicating with families, carers and other representatives.

We would like to highlight in particular their recommendation that advocacy services should be made more widely available to people who would benefit, rather than just those who are legally entitled to them. Too many people continue to struggle without the support of an advocate, and we hope that these new guidelines will help more people benefit from better quality advocacy.

You can find more information on the new guidance here.