Mental health advocacy groups fear for their future

Independent mental health advocacy groups in Edinburgh fear the council is planning to replace them, after it published the results of a joint review by the council and NHS Lothian. A key aim of the review is to reduce council funding of advocacy services by £100,000 per annum.

The Consultation and Advocacy Promotion Service (CAPS) and Advocard went to the health, social care and housing committee yesterday, after it laid out a number of options for the future of independent advocacy services in the city.

Rather than speak for themselves, some of their service users – who are also activists – spoke about the positive contribution that they make to city.

David Atiyah was there to represent the Edinburgh Users Forum, one of the groups supported by CAPS;

“Our concern is that the services that mental health service users have built up over the years to help them them improve the services, our fear is that those organisations will get obliterated, and new services will get created.”

CAPS was one of the groups that successfully campaigned last year against plans to put the care services for people with disabilities and mental health problems out to tender – resulting in the current council administration’s first defeat in two and a half years.