BANES Health and Wellbeing Network
Domestic Abuse
Wednesday 29th January 2014
Present
Karen John Age UK
Tom Fox-Proverbs Bath and North East Somerset Carers Centre
Lores Savine Bath and North East Somerset Council
Natalia Urry Bath and North East Somerset Council
Alan Mogg Bath and North East Somerset Council
Gill Whitehead Citizens Advice Bureau
Liz Brown Dorothy House Hospice
Pommy Harmar Nextlink Domestic Abuse Services
Maggie Hall Sirona Care and Health
Chris Ashmore Solon Housing Association
Penny Mckissock South Side Family Project
Ronnie Wright The Care Forum
Jan Perry The Care Forum
Lesley Hutchinson Bath and North East Somerset Council
Robin Cowen B&NES Local Safeguarding Adults Board
Sophia Swatton Bath and North East Somerset CCG
Heather Crolly Bath and North East Somerset Council
Juliette Parsons Julian House
Nick Young Bath and North East Somerset Public Health
David Williams LGA Peer Challenge Member
Katie Hall Bath and North East Somerset Council
Ashley Ayre Bath and North East Somerset Council
Sarah Heathcote Bath and North East Somerset Public Health
Helen Edelstyn Bath and North East Somerset Council
Presentations
The first part of the meeting was a number of different presentations:
What do we know about domestic abuse in B&NES and its consequences? What are the issues locally and what is being planned to tackle them? Lores Savine and Natalia Urry, B&NES Council.
Pommy Harmar, Nextlink, Juliette Parsons, Julian House, and Penny McKissock, Southside spoke about their services and what they found worked to help people experiencing domestic abuse and what can help in preventing repeat victimisation and in preventing people from experiencing or perpetrating domestic abuse in the first place.
Here is the link for the presentations http://www.healthwatchbathnes.co.uk/notes-and-presentations.
The Health and Wellbeing Network in January discussed the health and wellbeing consequences of domestic abuse. Feedback from the Network discussions was given at the Health and Wellbeing Board meeting that afternoon. You can see the minutes of the Board meeting at http://tinyurl.com/knxzgr4 You can watch a webcast of the Board meeting at http://www.bathnes.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/124732
NICE has now published health guidance ‘Domestic violence and abuse: how health services, social care and the organisations they work with can respond effectively’. See http://tinyurl.com/ltptowc. The Early Intervention Foundation has also produced this Domestic Violence and Abuse Review http://tinyurl.com/oll5v24
Workshop sessions
In relation to early years and childhood, young people, adults and adults preventing repeat victimization, we asked participants to consider:
· What issues would you identify that might lead to people being vulnerable to domestic abuse or perpetrating domestic abuse?
· What support or services do you provide or do you know of that might help in preventing this?
· Are there any gaps in support or services that you would identify or any issues which you feel are not being addressed?
Summary feedback presented to Health and Wellbeing Board
The feedback from the workshop groups could be summarised within three main areas: raising awareness, knowledge and understanding and isolation:
Youth Parliament
Young people Healthy relationships
training
Best practice champions Domestic abuse
Co-ordination Good practice
Networking Research
Knowledge and understanding
Good Practice
Research Building a profile of potential
victims
Vulnerability to abuse cause
Mental health ? effect Disability and learning difficulties Child victims of sexual abuse
Geographical - rural/urban
Culture BME Communities Armed forces
Feedback – Workgroup 1
The groups discussions focused on 6 key issues: mental health, services, information, people not known to MARAC – what do we do, isolation and culture.
Mental Health
· Do mental health issues make people more vulnerable to domestic abuse
Or
· Does domestic abuse affect mental health
Services
· Nationally: there is research in Hertfordshire being funded to look at this. Consider:
o Support to groups working in mental health
o AVA (London) Against Violence and Abuse
· Research is currently being undertaken in Kent around people with learning difficulties and their vulnerability
· Child sexual abuse: people experiencing domestic abuse have revealed that they have experienced sexual abuse as a child and that is becomes normalised behaviour
Information
· Not duplicating
· Understanding what is available
· Can we map attributes in common that people who have experienced domestic abuse have?
· One way of doing this: Go back to all people who have already reported
Twerton Practices and Iris Signposting
Need to understand the potential impact on services
· Serious case reviews and links to GP Practices experiences
People not known to MARAC – what do we do?
Primary prevention
Normalisation of negative relationships for young people – peer pressure
What is a healthy relationship?
Awareness raising
Awareness tool
Isolation
People working on frontline services
Big agencies to have a domestic People working/living in
abuse champion? rural areas
How to raise safe Trades people
guarding issues
Sharing best practice
Culture
Communities Geographical Social (e.g. from the armed services)
Feedback – Workgroup 2
Issues:
· A strong strategic lead is needed to address the potential for duplication across the RAG, IVASP, LSDB, LSAB and Health and Wellbeing Board e.g. work on primary care and domestic abuse: work on intelligence sharing: work on prevention
· Recognise that domestic abuse costs the NHS. How can hospitals, GPs get better at identifying and referring domestic abuse cases – domestic abuse should be higher on the agenda of the CCG
· Raising the profile of the IVASP – domestic abuse and violence should be everyone’s business, not just the role of IVASP
Gaps:
· Ensure that IVASP has the strategic lead across BANES and clear link/support with the Health and Wellbeing Board
· Co-ordinated Domestic Abuse and MARAC training
· Across adult and children work forces
· Do we have numbers and older people (non dementia related) domestic violence
· Is there a gap for older people without families especially if they are not picked up by GPs
· Places of safety for male victims
Support:
· IRIS (& HARK) – does this cover the whole age range
· Why not combine training on abuse at foundation level to include domestic abuse, safe guarding and child protection
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