Changing Futures - Advocacy Service

Introduction

The Nottingham City Integrated Care Partnership has successfully bid for national funding as part of the Government's Changing Futures (CF) programme. This short-term programme, to the end of March 2024, will provide specialist services, partnership delivery models and develop system change in order to achieve better outcomes for people who experience the most significant Severe Multiple Disadvantage (SMD). SMD is defined within the programme as affecting people who experience at least 3 of 5 forms of disadvantage:

• Homelessness
• Substance misuse
• Mental ill-health
• Domestic and sexual abuse
• Interaction with the criminal justice system.

The Changing Futures Programme is commissioned by Nottingham City Council, in partnership with Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

The objective of the CF programme is to ensure that people living in Nottingham City who experience SMD receive joined up, flexible, person-centred care from the right services, at the right time, and in the right place to meet their needs. The focus of the programme is on achieving system change to enable the development and delivery of joined up services that provide effective healthcare, support and other forms of assistance to the most excluded, marginalised and vulnerable individuals who experience SMD. Partnership working is integral to delivering the CF programme and achieving the ambitions for system change.

The Main Delivery Service will encompass:

• Frontline Delivery Team
• Lived Experience Team
• Peer Mentors
• Activities Coordination
• Insight and Development Hub
• Practice Development Unit
• SMD specialist roles embedded within key partner agencies
• Housing Led Support Team

This independent advocacy service (the Service) will be available to beneficiaries of the Changing Futures Programme to support them to make and manage complaints, concerns or grievances (an Issue) in relation to any services they are entitled to covered by the Programme. This may be the Changing Futures Main Delivery Service, housing services, criminal justice services, domestic abuse services, sexual abuse services, recovery providers, training providers or any other relevant provision.

Aims of the Service

• To resolve Issues that people in Nottingham who experience SMD have with relevant services through the provision of an Independent Advocacy Service.
• To ensure that beneficiaries' experience influences the development and delivery of the Changing Futures Programme and associated service providers as a response to the issues raised through the advocacy service.

The key aim of this service is to enable current and future beneficiaries to access services that meet their needs.

By working with individuals, monitoring incidents of dissatisfaction, their causes and resolutions, the Programme will be able to influence change within its own services and those of other provider organisations.