The National Advocacy Service (NAS), and the Patient Advocacy Service are pleased to announce the release of their Casebook 2025. Now in its fourth year, the Casebook has become an integral part of the work carried out by both Services, providing a voice to the lived experiences of those supported by NAS and the Patient Advocacy Service. This year’s Casebook includes 15 case examples from NAS and 11 from the Patient Advocacy Service. The publication details the complex advocacy work carried out by Advocates in both services and highlights the crucial role independent, professional advocacy can play in supporting people to have their human rights protected and promoted.
Each case example demonstrates how Advocates in both services help breach gaps in systems, ensure best practice across public services, promote positive systemic changes, and show how independent representative and empowerment advocacy has a positive impact both for individuals and in communities across Ireland. The Casebook covers topics such as access to justice, decision-making, parenting with a disability, housing, hospital and nursing home complaints, and patient safety incidents.
In Casebook 2025, you will learn how a NAS Advocate supported Jamie to navigate the child-in-care system and how representative advocacy supported Mary to gain access to her own finances and live independently. We will share the experience of Joe who was supported by an Advocate from the Patient Advocacy Service to address issues with his care in a nursing home and how Anne felt empowered to make a complaint to her local hospital. Each case demonstrates the power of advocacy in action and the unwavering commitment Advocates have to social justice and the people they support.
Georgina Cruise, National Manager with the Patient Advocacy Service said:
“We are pleased to be able to deliver our fourth annual Casebook, a collaboration between the Patient Advocacy Service and the National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities.
Each case study serves as a glimpse into the lived experiences of patients in public acute hospitals and residents in public and private nursing homes. Through empowerment advocacy, our Advocates consistently champion the rights of patients and nursing home residents, ensuring that they have every opportunity to be active participants in their own health and social care journey.
Some of the main complaint issues raised in this year’s Casebook include poor communication, dignity & respect, nursing home contracts, misdiagnosis and patient safety. A negative experience in a health or social care setting can leave a person with trauma. The case studies that we are sharing highlight how independent advocacy can support a safe space, ensuring people are heard, validated and empowered in their own healing journey.
The Patient Advocacy Service is committed to continued collaboration with key stakeholders to share the lived experience, promote a culture of learning and empathy and to promote systemic and policy change within health and social care settings.
Independent Advocacy is the bridge between patients, residents and health and social care providers, which is essential not just when things go well, but when they go wrong, ensuring learning and accountability.”
Click on this link here to see the Patient Advocacy Service Casebook 2025:
Patient Advocacy Service Casebook 2025
Click on this link here to see the NAS Casebook 2025:
Click on this video to learn more about Empowerment Advocacy: