Stay Informed
Legal Information, Advice and Support
Health Services
Knowing where to look for information, support or advice is very important. To take the right decisions for yourself, you need to be informed and aware of what is available. This section of the website will direct you to available resources that may be of help now or in the future.
NHS General Service
NHS Grampian General Service is your one stop health information point, offering free confidential information, advice, and access to reputable services, in a friendly welcoming environment. Healthline is a free local telephone line available Monday - Friday 9.00am -5.00pm.
Any information requested is sent by post free of charge. All calls are confidential and are answered by trained health advisers.
Contact Details:
Tel - 08085 202030
Other useful contacts:
NHS 24 - 111
NHS Inform, Care and Support Rights
The Listening Service - Community Chaplaincy Listening (CCL)
The Listening Service is free and confidential and being run out of GP practices in Aberdeen. For the list of venues where CCL is available please visit the web page online. GP referral services. If you are struggling with finding your way around community services, you can be referred to some specialised
services through your GP.
Primary Care Links Practitioners
The Aberdeen Links Service, delivered by SAMH, aims to support local people to connect with their community and overcome life’s challenges. Whether it is money worries, housing issues or social security problems, they give practical and emotional support that can change lives.
Aberdeen is one of the few places in Scotland that has a Link Practitioner in every single GP practice across the city. Link Practitioners are there to offer practical and emotional support with any non-clinical factors that may be impacting your health and wellbeing. Your Link Practitioner will be able listen to what is affecting you, work with you to identify personal outcomes, support you to overcome any barriers you may be facing, and connect you with resources available in your community that may be able to help you overcome the issue you are experiencing.
Link Practitioners can support and refer individuals into a wide variety of local services which cover a range of different non-clinical topics. These include but are not limited to:
- Money management
- Benefit support
- Housing
- Food & Fuel Poverty
- Isolation
- Addiction
- Mental Health
- Local activities
- Carer support
- Employment help
And many more…
If you think you would benefit from the Aberdeen Links service, please contact your GP practice and ask for a referral.
Scotland’s Service Directory
Scotland's Service Directory is part of the NHS Inform website.
Using the directory can help you to find NHS and other health and wellbeing services in and around Aberdeen, which includes:
• A&E, Minor Injuries
• GP Practices
• Dental Services
• Health and wellbeing Services
• Hospitals
• Opticians
• Sexual Health Clinics
It gives you names, addresses, opening hours and service details.
Money Matters
Money Matters
To help you to stay well, independent, and happy at home, it’s important to reduce financial stress.
Aberdeen Financial Inclusion Team
The Aberdeen Financial Inclusion Team is a free, expert and confidential service provided by Aberdeen City Council for residents of Aberdeen City.
Our Money Advisers can:
- Check you are receiving all you are entitled to.
- Assist you to challenge benefit decisions you are unhappy with.
- Provide representation at appeal tribunals.
- Help you deal with all types of problem debts.
- Provide advice on what your creditors can/can’t do and speak to your creditors on your behalf.
The team provide an advice line, duty and appointment service for clients, staff and partner agencies. Services offered:
- Benefits
- Crisis Management
- Debt Advice
- Welfare Rights
You can contact the service by completing an online form on their website, or by calling 03000 200 292 (Monday to Friday 8.30 to 5.00pm)
CFine’s Support Advice Finance Education Team (SAFE)
The SAFE Team is part of the local charity Community Foods Initiative North East and as well as tackling food poverty they have a group of support workers who help those who are facing financial difficulty or need help navigating the welfare system. You can refer yourself or someone else to access the following services:
- Access to food
- Wellbeing services
- Improving finances
- Skills development
If you want to contact CFine you can email them or call 01224 531386 (Monday to Friday, 10.00am to 4.00pm).
Scarf
Scarf is a social enterprise, headquartered in Aberdeen, delivering a range of services to householders, businesses, and communities throughout Scotland.
Launched in 1985, Scarf’s original aim was to eradicate fuel poverty. Although this purpose remains at our core, Scarf has developed into a professional social enterprise making a practical difference to individuals and organisations.
Scarf can help you with things like:
- Fuel debt
- Grants and funding
- Home renewables
- Reducing energy bills
- In-home advice
- Switching suppliers
If you would like to contact Scarf you can email them, or call them on 01224 213005.
Legal Information, Care & Support
Legal information, advice & support
Aberdeen Citizens Advice Bureau gives all clients free, confidential, impartial and independent advice on a wide range of subjects, including:
- Benefits: questions about entitlements, support with applications and appeals against unfair decisions
- Debt advice: how to manage your debts, improve your financial situation and maximize your income (the debt service is funded for people living in Aberdeen City only)
- Employment: questions about terms and conditions, dismissal, redundancy, intimidation and unfair dismissal
- Immigration: from EU workers to asylum seekers
- Consumer Issues: everything from broken kettles to difficulties with gas and electricity suppliers
- Relationships: issues relating to splitting up, children, and bereavement
- Housing: your rights
If you would like to contact Citizens Advice you can email them , or call them on 0808 800 4444
Disabled Person Housing Service (DPHS)
DPHS Aberdeen is a local charity offering housing advice, information and advocacy to disabled people their families and carers.
Service includes:
- Access adaptation to your house
- Advice to access OT therapy
- Apply for housing and options
- Support to access re-assessment when circumstances change
- Access to veterans voice
If you want to contact DPHS you can email them or call 01224 810222
Shelter Scotland
Those experiencing homelessness and the following problems can contact shelter directly
- Eviction from your home
- Housing advice helpline
- Rights if you rent your home
- Repossession of your home and
how to stop it - Housing costs & Money help
If you want to contact Shelter Scotland you can call them on 01224 569750, from 10am-3pm
Scottish Housing Regulator
Safeguards and promotes the interests of tenants, homeless people and other service users for all Scottish local councils.
Their services include:
- Apply for housing
- Complain about a social landlord
- Complain about a housing association
- Find and compare your social landlords performance
Advocacy Service Aberdeen (ASA)
Independent advocacy is a way to help people have a stronger voice and as much control as possible over their own lives. Advocacy Service Aberdeen helps people take more control of their lives and actively participate in decision-making by helping them to know and understand their rights and the situation that they are in, to consider the options that are available to them, to express their views and wishes, and to make informed choices.
We have specialist services for people with mental health issues, people with learning disabilities, older people, carers, self-directed support and for people who are victims of domestic abuse.
Id would like to contact ASA you can email them, call the Willowbank office on 01224 332314 or the Cornhill office 01224 557912.
Future Choices
Future Choices started in 2008 to help fill a large gap in services to support the physically disabled get out of their homes and enjoy social Inclusion.
We collect members from their homes and take them to Inchgarth Community Centre so they can have fun playing games such as curling, bowling and dominoes. They can also do arts and crafts while meeting up and having a blether with friends. Members have lunch after the session and then return home. Future Choices also organises trips out, including a trip every year to the Panto. Future Choices has been running for 14 years and has recently started again after an 18 month break due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We have over 45 members, including wonderful volunteers and drivers.
Please contact us at:
Future Choices, Care of ACVO, New Jasmine House, Greenbank Place, East Tullos Industrial Estate, Aberdeen, AB12 3BT
My Power of Attorney
With Power of Attorney the future is in your hands
What is a Power of Attorney?
A Power of Attorney is a legal document giving someone else (your Attorney) authority to act or make decisions on your behalf. You choose the person(s) you want to act as your Attorney and what powers you want the Attorney to have. A Power of Attorney is there to make sure that your financial affairs and personal welfare can still be dealt with/protected if things change and you can’t do it for yourself.
Who is a Power of Attorney for?
Everyone over the age of 16 and able to act on their own behalf can apply for Power of Attorney. Accidents or illnesses can happen at any age and the sooner a Power of Attorney is completed, the better. You should register your Power of Attorney with The Office of the Public Guardian as soon as you can. A solicitor can safely hold onto the deed for you until you are unable to make decisions for yourself and it is asked for by your Attorney.
What does losing capacity mean?
If you lose capacity, it means that you are no longer able to make decisions about how to look after your own financial and personal affairs, perhaps due to illness eg dementia/stroke etc. Incapacity is determined by a lawyer or doctor and is assessed against specific criteria. The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 sets out certain situations in which you could be deemed to lack capacity.
- Incapable of acting on decisions
- Incapable of making decisions
- Incapable of communicating decisions
- Incapable of understanding decisions
- Incapable of retaining the memory of decisions in relation to any matter due to mental disorder
- Incapable of communicating due to physical disability
How do I start the process for Power of Attorney?
Start by having a conversation with someone you trust to take action on your behalf should the need arise. Make sure the person is happy to be your Attorney and that they understand your wishes.
How much will it cost?
Check eligibility for Legal Aid with Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB). SLAB helps those on low and modest incomes gain access to the legal system. You can also call them on 0845 1228686
If you are not eligible for legal aid, visit My Power of Attorney for local information or shop around for a solicitor to draw up a Power of Attorney document. Legal fees depend on each case and costs. The solicitor will be able to provide an estimate before work is carried out on your behalf.
Adult Support and Protection
What is Adult, Support and Protection?
You have the right to be safe. There is a law that tells the Council to make sure you are safe if people are worried about you.
The Council might need to become involved if they believe three things about your situation:
- They believe you find it difficult to look after your safety, health, rights or other interests; and
- They believe you are at risk of harm; and
- They believe you are more likely to be harmed because of a disability, mental illness or physical illness.
If you or someone who cares about you are worried about your safety, please contact Advocacy Service Aberdeen to discuss the situation that is causing you concern. You can contact them by email or by calling the Willowbank office on 01224 332314 or the Cornhill office on 01224 557912.
Adult Social Care
At some point in our lives people may need more help with everyday living because of an illness, a disability, because we are getting older, or because we are caring for someone.
Adult Social Care can assess your situation by using what are called Eligibility Criteria to find out if you are eligible for adult care services. Social Work has a set amount of money for community care services. To ensure that citizens in the greatest need or most at risk are prioritised, the council has taken a policy decision that only those citizens with needs that have been assessed at Emergency/Urgent or High levels will be eligible for a service.
The eligibility criteria apply to all citizens who currently receive a service and anyone who requests an adult care service.
People with needs that do not reach the threshold will receive information and advice, or direction to alternative provision. If you feel you are unlikely to fit into the priority categories, but have special circumstances we should consider, then you should refer yourself for an assessment.
To find out more about the eligibility criteria and if you already have a Social Worker, Care Manager or Community Care Coordinator, you should contact them directly.
Otherwise or for more information please contact the Care Management Team on 01224 264004 or by email.
The Duty Social Work Team can be reached on 08007315520, or by email.
In Aberdeen city should you or your loved one need some care at home it will be provided by Granite Care Consortium who are commissioned to provide Care at Home in the city.
Who are Granite Care Consortium?
Granite Care Consortium (GCC) are ten local 3rd and private sector providers, with decades of experience in delivering health and social care services. The Consortium was set up to ensure availability of quality services, improve outcomes of those we support and to build a consistent trained and skilled workforce, in line with our shared values and ethos of Changing Care for Good.
We are commissioned by AHSCP to provide outcomes-based care and support services to adults in their own homes and local communities. Services which can assist with the achievement of agreed outcomes include personal care, housing support, skills development, social and carer support. Each person we support benefits from a person-led approach as we work together to meet agreed outcomes, focusing on individual needs and goals in an enabling and encouraging way.
Our providers collectively bring with them the expert knowledge and resources to allow us to successfully support across a range of fields, including older adult services, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health, and those with terminal and critical illness.
If you would like to contact GCC, you can email them, or call them on 01224 531335
Additional Services
Age Scotland – Legal Issues, information, advice and support
We all, at some point in our lives, need to make important decisions about ourselves and our loved-ones. Age Scotland has a fantastic website that can help you get started with these decisions.
Age Scotland provides free information and advice to support you in making decisions on a range of topics such as:
- Power of attorney
- Claiming benefits
- Legal and family issues
- Money matters
- Dementia
- Energy
- Care and support
- Health and wellbeing
If you would ike to contact Age Scotland you can call them on 0800 12 44 222 (Monday to Friday 9am-5pm)
Bereavement support
The death of someone close to you can be a difficult and worrying time. You may need practical advice to help you cope, or someone to talk to about how you feel.
If you think you might need extra support, your first step could be to speak to your GP or another health professional you feel comfortable with and tell them how you're feeling.
You can find out more information on coping with grief and a range different types of support available on the Scottish Government website.
Support for LGBTQ+
Older LGBTQ+ people often have diminised support networks resulting in an increased sense of vulnerability and anxiety about aging. A range of information and support can be found locally or nationally by contacting Stonewall Scotland.
If you would like to contact Four Pillars you can email them or call them on 01224 211963
You can also call the National Helpline on 0300 123 2523
Victim Support
When people of any age become a victim of crime at home or in their community, or a witness to crime, they can lose confidence and there may be long lasting impacts on their wellbeing.
If you would like to contact Victim Support in Aberdeen you can call 01224 622478.
You can also call the National helpline for support on 0800 1611685
Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans
At Sight Scotland we’re tackling vision loss together. Our mission is to reach everyone in Scotland with sight loss – where and when they need us.
We’re here for everyone affected by vision loss in Scotland, with support, advice and funding for medical research.
Our services include The Royal Blind School and education outreach services; residential care for children and adults; provision of formats which enable equal access to the written word for people with sight loss; emotional support and information to anyone living with or impacted by sight loss, through our support line and community service; and expert rehabilitation and mobility training so people regain independence.
Our sister charity, Sight Scotland Veterans, supports veterans with vision loss, assisting them and their families to adapt to the impact of visual impairment and to regain confidence, restore independence and make new connections.
Our services can connect you with information, services, and local support, guidance on staying as independent and safe as possible at home and in the local community; advice on living well; understanding more about sight loss, and how to deal with emotional and practical difficulties.
Together, our charities are determined that no one should face sight loss alone.
To get free support, and contact our staff in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, please email or call Sight Scotland on 0800 024 8973, or Sight Scotland Veterans call 0800 035 6409.