Advocacy & Rights

ACAS

Free & impartial online Information and advice on employment rights & rules and employment disputes. Good online advice tool which answers most of the frequently asked questions (holidays allowances, maternity leave, sickness leave, contracts, flexible working, redundancy etc) Plus telephone helpline.

Website: www.acas.org.uk

0300 123 1100   

Advice Now

An independent, not-for-profit website providing accurate, up-to-date online information on rights and legal issues on topics such as on benefits, consumer affairs, employment, family & personal, health & social care, government, law & rights, money & tax, plus a directory of useful organisations.

Website: www.advicenow.org.uk

Advocacy Focus

All-Age Advocacy Hub. The Hub is a free, independent and confidential single point of contact (SPoC) to adults and eligible children in St Helens. The service provides advocacy support in regards to health and/or social care. This includes:

  • Independent Visitor
  • Care Leaver's Advocacy
  • Children and Young People's Advocacy
  • Children's Rights Helpline
  • Child Protection Advocacy
  • Community Advocacy
  •  Independent Care Act Advocacy
  • Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA)
  • Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA)
  • Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS)
  • Paid Relevant Persons Representative
  • Litigation Friend
  • Rule 1.2 Representative
  • Pop up advocacy events (free of charge)
  • Social Care Complaints Advocacy


A Duty Advocate is available during office hours. Chat instantly about priority cases via the live chat at www.advocacyfocus.org.uk. The Duty Advocate can also attend urgent and important meetings such as safeguarding.


Call 0300 323 0965

Email admin@advocacyfocus.org.uk

Website: www.advocacyfocus.org.uk/advocacy-services-in-st-helens


Leaflets: St Helens Community Advocacy , General Leaflet , Children's Rights


There are various referral forms, depending on the specific service needed. The forms can be found on the following website, under 'St Helens':

www.advocacyfocus.org.uk/refer-for-an-advocate

Carer Engagement Team at Merseycare

A team based within Merseycare, offering further support to unpaid carers who are looking after someone who is an inpatient and/or accessing Merseycare Services.


Carer Support Pathway

Our Carer Support Pathway offers the following opportunities for unpaid carers:

  • Support to access Carers Centres and other local community organisations to support emotional and physical wellbeing
  • The opportunity to get involved in coproduction and engagement activities.
  • Regular updates from the Carer Engagement Team
  • The opportunity to access peer support
  • The opportunity to access the Carer Training Education and Support Program (TES).


To access the Carer Support Pathway, you must be aged 18 or over  and be caring for someone under a Mersey Care service.


Carer Training Education and Support Program (TES)

Our Carer Training Education and Support Program (TES) is a collection of different training courses, delivered by trainers with their own lived experiences of caring.

The training aims to:

  • Enable carers to better understand and develop new skills, in order to better support the people they care for
  • Recognise their needs and support their own wellbeing as carers.


Carer Passport


The Carer Passport includes a partnership agreement between hospital staff and the carer as to their involvement in care provision, discussions and emotional support for the patient during their stay in hospital.


The passport should be completed with the carer and ward manager/nurse in charge or appropriate nominated ward staff. An agreement form will be completed during this conversation which will include the following steps:

  • Completing the patient's name and carer name/names 
  • Reviewing the concessions and agree what is required and can be provided for this episode of care, by ticking the relevant box 
  • Ward manager/nurse in charge and carer sign the agreement 
  • The carer is issued with small card with ward details to indicate that the passport has been issued
  • Document that the passport has been agreed and ensure that ALL ward staff are made aware. 


For more information on the above, please contact the Carer Engagement Team by emailing carers@merseycare.nhs.uk or by calling 01925 972 801.

Website: www.merseycare.nhs.uk/carers

Carers UK
Information and guidance

Whether you’re looking for information on benefits, practical help in your caring role, or support in the workplace, Carers UK have help and advice pages which offer detailed guidance. You can also download their resources, including their factsheets and Looking after someone guide, or order printed copies of the guides from their online shop.


Helpline

If you have a question about caring, you can contact the Carers UK Helpline. 

For information and signposting, their telephone Helpline is available on 0808 808 7777 from Monday to Friday, 9am – 6pm (including Bank Holidays). 

If you have a more complex query or would like more detailed guidance, we suggest you email advice@carersuk.org


Connect with other carers

It’s easy to feel isolated when you are caring for someone. Carers UK have an online forum named Carers Connect, which is a safe and supportive community where you can share what’s on your mind with other carers, day and night. You will need to be a Carers UK member to add a post and membership is free. They also offer weekly Care for a Cuppas, where you can chat with other carers via Zoom.


Carers Active Hub

Caring can put pressure on your physical and mental health. Carers UK have a Carers Active Hub, which is a free resource to help you stay active while caring, including short exercise videos, carer stories and expert tips. They also offer regular online Share and Learn activities to boost your wellbeing, such as yoga, accessible exercise, meditation, creative arts and much more. Many of these sessions are recorded, so you can watch them on our website or YouTube channel in your own time.


Carers UK Address: 20 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4LX

Telephone:  020 7378 4999

Website: www.carersuk.org/contact-us/

Citizens Advice Bureau

St Helens CAB

Citizens Advice St Helens helps people resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free, independent and confidential advice, and by influencing policymakers. The service provides assistance to St Helens residents with a range of issues including:


  • Accessing care and support 
  • Advice on housing and homelessness 
  • Accessing local groups within the community 
  • Advice on welfare benefits 
  • Employment and training 
  • Signposting to services 


Address: 2nd Floor, Millennium Centre, Corporation Street, St Helens WA10 1HJ


General Enquiries Line: 01744 737866 (Mon to Fri 9am to 4pm) - Call this line to arrange an appointment with a Welfare Benefits or Debt adviser 


Advice Line: 0808 278 7985 (Mon to Fri 10am to 3pm)


Universal Credit Help to Claim: 0800 144 8444 / 01744 737866 or email helptoclaim@casthelens.org.uk


Drop-in: Wednesday 10am- 12pm. Please note the drop-in service is for information only, no benefit checks or form filling will be undertaken.


Email Advice via the online form here: www.sthelenscab.org.uk/e-mail-advice/ This covers: General Advice, Debt Advice, Relationship Advice, Housing Advice, Energy Advice


Website: sthelenscab.org.uk


Webchat Advice

To speak to an adviser via chat follow this link (please note this is a national Citizens Advice service, not specific to St Helens)

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/contact-us/web-chat-service/

Disability Rights UK

Disability Rights UK is the UK’s leading Disabled People's Organisation (DPO). The service is led by, run by, and working for Disabled people. Disability Rights UK influence government policy, and lobby MPs and peers. They do this on the basis of their members’ views, and with information about personal experiences all around the country. If you would like a chance to contribute to what the service do and say, you have the option to join them as a member. There is a cost to becoming a member.


You can find factsheets and guides on their website, which provide basic information about benefits, tax credits, social care and other disability related issues for claimants and advisers. You can find out more detailed information in Disability Rights UK's Handbook.


General enquiries

Office Number: 0330 995 0400

Email: enquiries@disabilityrightsuk.org

Website: www.disabilityrightsuk.org

Healthwatch

Healthwatch St Helens was created to find out what local people think about the health and social care services they use.

The service works with health and social care providers to help them to understand how to make things better for the St Helens community.



Telephone: 0300 111 0007

Email: info@healthwatchsthelens.co.uk

Website: www.healthwatchsthelens.co.uk

Law Works

LawWorks is a charity working in England and Wales to connect volunteer lawyers with people in need of legal advice, who are not eligible for legal aid and cannot afford to pay and with the not-for-profit organisations that support them.


The LawWorks Clinics Network provides free initial advice to individuals on various areas of social welfare law including employment law, housing matters, consumer disputes, debt and welfare rights. The clinics are for people who are not eligible for legal aid and cannot afford to pay for a lawyer.

You can search for the nearest LawWorks Clinic here: www.lawworks.org.uk/legal-advice-individuals/find-legal-advice-clinic-near-you


Website: www.lawworks.org.uk

PALS

If you have concerns or an issue that you would like to be resolved you can use the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). Here you can get support, advice and information about any aspect relating to your contact with Mersey Care.


Based at:
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Hollins Park Hospital, Hollins Park House

Hollins Lane
Winwick
Warrington
WA2 8WA


Telephone: 0151 471 2377 or 0800 328 2941

Email: Palsandcomplaints@merseycare.nhs.uk

Website: www.merseycare.nhs.uk/pals-and-complaints

PALS leaflet

St Helens Council Compliments and Feedback

St Helens Council have a page on their website where you can provide compliments and/or feedback regarding your experience.

Website: www.sthelens.gov.uk/compliments-feedback


Trader Register

The St Helens Borough Council Trader Register has been set up for the benefit of both local consumers and businesses in the St Helens area. It is not an approval scheme, but it aims to reassure consumers, providing advice and information on employing a trader and working together to get things right first time.


The Trader Register is operated by Trading Standards and provides consumers with a list of local businesses that we have checked for compliance with the consumer protection rules applicable to their trade.


The Trader Register can be found here: www.sthelens.gov.uk/traders

Trading Standards

Consumer advice

If you need advice on how to resolve a dispute relating to goods or service you have purchased, please note that this service is provided by Citizens Advice. You can call their consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 or visit the Citizens Advice Website here: www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer


Details of all consumer enquiries, dealt with by Citizens Advice, are sent to Trading Standards. This information is reviewed and risk assessed to enable St Helens Borough Trading Standards Team to target the use of their resources in the most effective way. 


St Helens Borough Council Trading Standards does not operate a consumer advice service and is unable to respond directly to requests for consumer advice.  


If you wish to report an issue where you believe that a business is breaking the law, such as selling age-restricted products to children, selling unsafe products or counterfeit goods, please report the issue to the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline. Contact details can be found here: www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/if-you-need-more-help-about-a-consumer-issue/


Citizens Advice will inform St Helens Borough Council Trading Standards who will contact you if they need further information. 

NHS Choices

The NHS is offering more and more options to enable you to make choices that best suit your circumstances, giving you greater control of your care, and hopefully better results.


If a GP needs to refer you for a physical or mental health condition, in most cases you have the legal right to choose the hospital or service you'd like to go to. This will include many private hospitals if they provide services to the NHS and it does not cost the NHS any more than a referral to a standard NHS hospital.


Further information can be found on the NHS Website: www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/your-choices-in-the-nhs

Page Last Updated November 2024

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