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Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) - award of new contracts to secure the future of the service

  • Last modified date:
    9 February 2007

Following a rigorous procurement exercise, the Department of Health has recently awarded contracts to three organisations who will deliver a new and improved Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) from 1st April 2006 across England.

Contracts have been awarded for each government region, as shown below:

Region: North East
Provider: The Carers Federation

Region: North West
Provider: The Carers Federation

Region: Yorkshire and Humberside
Provider: The Carers Federation

Region: East Midlands
Provider: The Carers Federation

Region: East of England
Provider: POhWER

Region: London
Provider: POhWER

Region: West Midlands
Provider: POhWER

Region: South East
Provider: SEAP

Region: South West
Provider: SEAP

All of these providers have been delivering ICAS under contract to the Department of Health since 1st September 2003, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise in general and specialist advocacy service delivery.

Carers Federation

The Carers Federation is a diverse voluntary sector body, established in 1992. The organisation offers a wide range of bespoke services to the most vulnerable members of society, working across cultural, religious and age boundaries.  Services include carer support, education, respite care, drug and alcohol misuse, patient & public involvement forum support and of course ICAS.  Whilst retaining its focus on the needs of the individual client, the organisation also works to achieve improved services locally, regionally and nationally and is totally committed to the ethos of ICAS and its core principle to support the aspirations of the NHS to achieve service improvement.

POhWER

POhWER is a specialist advocacy agency, formed 10 years ago, with immense experience in the advocacy field.  POhWER aims to empower clients and staff alike with its progressive, visionary and innovative approach to applying ideas, lessons learnt and feedback to developing the organisation and services on an ongoing basis. POhWER has been an ICAS provider for three and a half years having provided the service through the pilot stages as well as under full contract.  Additionally they maintain a high profile in the current discussions taking place around plans for other national advocacy schemes such as the Independent Mental Capacity Advocate service, for which they are providing a pilot IMCA service.

SEAP

South East Advocacy Projects (SEAP) is a large advocacy provider with offices across the South East, employing 78 staff and working with more than 50 volunteers.  It exists to provide independent and confidential advocacy support which enables people to have a voice in the services that they receive, the decisions that are made about their lives and by safeguarding their rights.  SEAP manages four specialist advocacy projects supporting children and young people, adults with learning disabilities, adults with mental health issues and of course ICAS.  The projects also provide a range of related services to vulnerable people and professionals, including research, accredited training, befriending, peer advocacy and rights-related projects.

Features of the new service

The new service has been designed using our experience of providing ICAS over the last few years, feedback from clients and stakeholders and the results of an independent evaluation conducted by MORI. 

The most significant change is that the service will now have two distinct but complimentary models of service delivery, dependent on client need:

1. Self advocacy model - designed to empower those clients who want and are able to raise their own concerns

  • Information and support via local rate telephone numbers, staffed by advocates, with opening times extended to include Thursday evenings
  • Support via any form of written correspondence (fax, e-mail, letter)
  • Support via specially designed Self Help Information which is available in hard copy, from the web and is reproduced in all of the major community languages
  • 'Third party', professional support for other advocacy, support or advice workers already supporting clients with complex needs locally

2. Supported advocacy model - designed to empower and support those clients with more complex needs

  •  With resources directed towards the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in each region, this model will ensure clients with more complex needs have access to specialist advocates who can support them through the complaints process. 

Background information:

  1. Section 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 places a duty on the Secretary of State for Health to make arrangements to provide Independent Advocacy Services to assist individuals making complaints against the NHS.
  2. The new ICAS contracts will be launched on 1 April 2006.
  3. The Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) was established to support patients and the public wishing to make a complaint about their NHS care or treatment. This statutory service was launched on 1 September 2003 and provides a national health complaints advocacy service delivered to agreed quality standards
  4. ICAS aims to ensure complainants have access to the support they need to articulate their concerns and navigate the complaints system, maximising the chances of their complaint being resolved quickly and effectively
  5. ICAS is a patient centred service, delivering support ranging from provision of self help information, through to the assignment of a dedicated,specialist advocate able to assist individuals with more complex needs.
  6. Statistics from ICAS are shared with complaints leads, patients forum members and other stakeholders involved in improving the patient's experience. This provides an additional layer of information which can help alert the NHS to potential problem areas and ensure lessons from users' experiences of the NHS are fed back into the service to affect positive change.
  7. In addition, twice a year ICAS generates a Complaints Outcome Register for each NHS Trust showing the commitments for change, made to ICAS clients as a result of them raising their concerns using the NHS complaints procedure. This information is shared with patients' forums for them to monitor implementation.
  8. The current ICAS contracts will end on 31st March 2006.
  9. Over the first year of ICAS delivery (1 September 2003- 31 August 2004) advocates dealt with approximately 27,000 calls on its national telephone helplines and went on to provide full advocacy support to 10,422 complainants.
  10. Over the second year of ICAS delivery (1 September 2004 - 31 August 2005) advocates dealt with approximately 29,000 calls and went on to provide full advocacy support to just under 13,000 complainants.  

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