Helping people with dementia to have a voice

Our Relevant Person's Representative (RPR) service supports people who are subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard (DoLS) which means an authorisation has been granted to restrict them from leaving their current care setting. This happens in specific cases where someone is deemed to lack mental capacity to live independently in a safe way, usually due to a health condition such as dementia or mental illness.

Many people who are subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard have a family member or friend who can support them to understand their situation and ensure their wishes are taken into account. For people who don't have anyone able to do this, an RPR service will take on this role and we have a team of qualified and experienced advocates who work across Newcastle, Gateshead and South Tyneside providing this service. Many of the people we support are older people who have dementia and are restricted from leaving their care home due to a DoLs and we recently received a compliment from a member of a local social work team about how we supported a person in exactly these circumstances:

"I just wanted to say thanks to all the RPR’s and admin supporting ongoing work. I really do appreciate the prompt emailed updates before visiting placements and I have been able to pick up on some of the issues / comments made about the person, the care being provided or other dynamics. Your team are generally involved when a person does not have anyone to visit and / or independently listen to them and therefore your efforts often go unrecognised."

Working with people who have their liberty restricted requires care, attention to detail and always putting the person first and we're very proud of our advocates who do this on a daily basis. For more information about our advocacy services, visit www.yvc.org.uk/advocacy.

Our RPR services in South Tyneside and Newcastle in 2022/23: