POhWER Reviews 

After reading all these negative responses I may end up having to pay for private advocate who has the time focus to challenge Hertfordshire adult services as I am disabled wheelchair user and moved from Westminster council to Herts 7 weeks ago . My care plan in westminster 42 hrs a week and zero contribution . Herts finance first time round want me to fund £187 per week towards my care ! Asked for review of DRE they reduced to £157 per week and I live on benefits . I now will write to MP Oliver Dowden

Do not bother putting in a referral, as you will probably not get any help at all and just waste your time waiting for each response in between months while you have to continue fighting and thinking soon someone will respond and get in touch with support, when they are just playing you.

I contacted them more than half a year ago to hopefully get some help advocating for some mental Healthcare. They got to my referral pretty quickly at first. However we never got anything done at all, or even began to discuss the support for advocacy I was looking for, as the worker would take weeks, or even a whole month and more, in between each text I responded to from her. Any arranged check up/follow up calls I already could barely schedule in, due to the few weeks to month long waits for her response between each text message sent from me, were all missed completely by her, or she'd propose a time, I'd confirm, only to be met with no response for weeks again.

Every time I had something new I wanted help with, I'd bring it up immediately on the same day when she sent a check in text to me (after the already month long delay of when she was supposed to reply to my last message) only to be left on delivered for another month in between each text message I sent replying to their long awaited response.
Which by the next time they'd message me back about my previous message with details 1 month later, the appointments for whatever help I needed, mentioned in my last text with them, would be long over

Have also texted the worker and enquired for details about their advocacy service and what they are actually able to offer help with, as I was confused with the slow and lackluster service, thinking I was mistaking the picture of this advocacy service for something else I had in mind, along with mention of other details of what I needed help with. No response at all in regards to my advocacy or any details about the service, and never answered my question either.

The only quick text reply I've ever gotten was from today, when they asked if I still needed advocacy, which I had enough of and said no thanks and that I did not need the service anymore, which they replied to almost instantly!
Dissappointing and let down, especially since they are a charity advocacy service to help vulnerable people who cannot speak up for themselves.

What an absolute shambles Powher is.
The whole thing is ran by narcissists.
Should be shut down. Another drain on government resources to no gain for society other than Powher staff to be paid a wage.
Thank you Ellie! Thank you so much for treating me as a sub human!

We needed advocacy for my son with LD. After years of issues dealing with social care in Oxfordshire.
The lady was pleasant enough, but knew nothing to do with our concerns.
Nothing about the Care Act 2014 or regulations 2015.
Was a complete waste of time.
Sadly things don't seem much better than this anywhere else.

First person was helpful, but she got a new job. She was replaced by a guy who could not be less engaged/interested/bothered.

When I challenged him on that he just said something along the lines of "I have a lot of clients".

I have been through a long drawn out process with the NHS that has destroyed my health, and this is the best help you can get, no wonder the NMC involved them.

Edit:

They have updated me that as I did not wish to raise a complaint they would take no further action. It is a a gravy train organisation, I I for ed them what happened, I know it has happened before with eh same person, but because I will not go through a charade, they say nothing will be done.

At least I have some choice emails for publication, oh and there is still no response as regards what I asked.

Edit 2:

Several months later and still no response, not even from the complaints people, wondering if they recruit their staff from something like NHS (complaints (mis)handling now.

Had I read those reviews, I would not have wasted my time with Pohwer. I was advised incorrectly and my so called advocate disappeared without a trace before the end of the complaints process. I was failed by the NHS, failed by the ombudsman and failed by Pohwer. It is very clear that the NHS are not interested in learning the lessons and the ombudsman fails to take them to task. As far as Pohwer goes, ultimately, they didn't help, just created more work.

Pohwer are currently helping with the medical centre that I'm registered with, the person trying to help is very polite and has sent and email to the practice however, prior to the person contacting me I had been passing information over to another person who was supposedly adding it to my case, but I found the person dealing with my case seemed not to know what the ombudsman had done even though I'd sent their emails to Pohwer and that the person appears not to fully read my emails due to errors she makes in her responses and the email she sent to the medical centre.

I'm giving her 4 stars because she didn't really have to help me or contact the medical centre and it's a free service. I'm hoping that I get the outcome that has been requested by the officer and will update this at a later date.

Edit - After today I'm really bemused at the fact that the person supposedly helping me doesn't know how to read an email properly and has now twice put the wrong information when requesting further assistance from the medical centre. I may have to tell her to leave it at this rate as I feel she's not going to get anywhere with putting the wrong info in emails. Also what is the point in me sending information onto Pohwer only for the person helping not to bother reading it, ie emails from the ombudsman.

Due to MY experience I believe it was a huge mistake even contacting them PohWer, WHY. Because the same as any big organisation their can be moles and other types of folks. When I consulted the doctor who I divulged to PohWer was part of what I thought was a conspiracy I could tell immediately I looked at his face he was prewarned that I had made a compliant. What a dispicable situation.
Of course I have no concrete proof that the advocate that had my data and of course was bound by the data act did the judas on me but someone advised that doctor I was 'coming for him.'???????

Dreadful experience.
Awful service. Awful people.

Spoke to a representative today to get some advice, the lady was not paying attention from the get go. I felt like I wasted my time repeating things to her. She was not paying attention nor communicate clearly.I won’t be calling POHWER again. Avoid at all cost. I am glad I decided this was not for me. I am glad I looked at Google reviews during the call because she wasn’t helpful. If you need to complain and can’t write it, go to fiverr.com and get someone to write it for you for a fee, then make a formal complaint to your hospitals/ healthcare provider and if the hospital is stalling/not investigating then complaint to the ombudsman. Also look at AvMA.

My so-called advocate shut my case whilst it was still ongoing. He had helped by talking to the health service ombudsman and also by reading the local government ombudsman's report and giving me an outline of it. This was when he was with Equal Lives. He moved to Pohwer and my case was transferred with him. He then shut my case shortly before the health service ombudsman sent their report. I got the report asked my advocate to do as he had before. He refused, pretending not to know what I wanted him to do. I explained in simple words that I wanted him to do what he'd done before. He didn't even answer me. I emailed again, saying 'You left me to it'. He ignored that. I started an official complaint to Pohwer. It was ignored. Pohwer is taking money for doing a worthless job.

eighty phone calls, no answer.
Is there an advocacy service to advocate for me to help me receive this service?

Dreadful company

Tried to put in a complaint about this appalling organisation. Even that was ignored. This organisation needs to be shut down. It causes more harm than good.

absolutely terrible , non helpfull, uncaring , please please do not waste your time with these as they will promise you help but totally let you down in every aspect , the worst service i have ever encountered. total waste of time and effort going to them . there total disregarding attitudes has been going on for ages. very very unprofessional service

Frustrating! And waste of time!
They were appointed by the court to be my son's advocate. But, I have no clue what they are doing. Did not seem.to make an impact nor representation for my son whatsoever. I have informed them of my son's breach of DOLS, I copied them to mu emails but rather inactive or non reactive at all. I have informed the advocate that my husband at the time is due for a heart bypass and I have asked for staff provision to cover the care that my husband provide Advocate made a visit and told me that she is moving on ha ing promotion but no other advocate is yet assigned to my son. I contacted the number and the name she left a week before the Operarion. It has between 2 weeks now after the operation and have not yet heard anything from them. What is actually the role of POHWER advocacy? I am rather confuse as we are left without support for my son. Can anyone in POHWEr enlighten me, please.

The worse experience I have ever had. Please, do not use them. Their attitude is diabolical. Filled in their forms in Oct 2023, to help my disabled son, I receive confirmation in Feb of 2024 they will assign a advocate, I then received an email from this advocate Michelle Robertson stating she will ring, then to be told on the day that their system is being updated so she would have to make another date, and today it was suppose to be a phone interview, and she phoned from a private tel number 3 times and did not leave her number so I can phone her back, as her calls went straight to record (as they will and do) and my phone did not ring. I then sent an email, as the phone number on her website states a number to call - again, no response. So, in all of this, what a bloody shambles they are, and avoid at all cost, as they clearly are avoiding you as they have been told to do!

BARNET POHWER:

So far my experience hasn't been pleasant, I filled in all my paperwork 9 weeks ago and am still waiting for a case handler to take my case.

If you call them most of the time they Don't answer the phone or they keep you waiting atleast 40 minutes before they do.

I had dealt with voice ability in the past and they atleast answer the phone and gave you a rough estimate of how long it would take for a case handler to be assigned your case, but there's no point in focusing on the past for some reason voiceability lost the contract and pohwer got it.

Dreadful experience. They refused to meet or speak to me but wanted a consent form to speak on my behalf. She then went ahead & met with GP & carers with no clue what the issues were. Managed to make things worse & was served notice yo leave GP as a result of the advocates poor advice. So now left with complex medical issue & no access to GP
They Didn't have any clue or understanding of issues. I was treated like I didn't exist.

I have contacted POhwer to receive advocacy support on my complaint against the NHS, this was the reply;

Good morning Max,
Thank you for contacting PohWER.
Unfortunately we do not currently operate in Coventry and would be unable to support.
The advocacy provider for the area is Voice ability.

I have contacted VoiceAbility and I was suggested to contact POhwer....all these organizations are kept alive thanks to money from the taxpayers because despite being registered as a charity they received money from the government...going what? causing trouble and distress to patients....Shame of you all this material will be included on my website....

To reply to you; You can confirm that your service along with VoiceAbility is a circus service, one body discharges the patient on top of the other one and vice versa.....get out of business and avoid causing problems who has already a lot of problems....