Homeless Patients Legal Advocacy Service (HPLAS)

Descriptions

The service is for adults who attend UHL, QEH and Ladywell unit and who are identified as having housing issues or homelessness that risks breakdown in discharge arrangements or follow-up engagement for medical and health care needs. The service primary objective is to increase access to legal advice for up to 30 homeless patients attending UHL, QEH hospitals and Ladywell unit at UHL (e.g. within outpatients, A&E departments and beyond), to address their pressing legal issues, primarily in the fields of immigration, housing and welfare benefits (which are often inter-linked). The secondary objective is to offer workshops on legal topics chosen by hospital teams. To offer consultancy support to enable teams to progress a further 30 cases and make appropriate referrals into the provider where needed.