Ms Estela Vidal:

The Deputy referred to the role of the advocate for the family. In talking about family engagement, we would really like to take the opportunity to highlight the importance of the role of the advocate support service to families. This role is not considered enough in the heads of Bill. It is key to exercising the legal capacity of the individual. Families have a really important role here.

We would like to highlight some international best practice. For example, the Scottish Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 provides a right of access to an independent advocate. In this regard, I would like to refer to two passages from the testimony of a person who uses our services. In the first, the individual states it was not explained that other people could attend the meetings or that a peer support person could help, adding that it was not until two years later that they discovered such a person existed. The second point is that an independent advocacy service is paramount for the person who has lived experience of mental ill health and that there are no statutory advocacy services attached to mental health services. That latter, according to the testimony, is something that would need to be addressed so the person with lived experience has support to make decisions as to their will and preference.