GP practices to receive domestic abuse training and new referral options

The Government will roll out a new domestic abuse and sexual violence service from next year, connecting GP practices with local specialist services and providing extra training for practice staff.

The new service, called ‘steps to safety’, will be rolled out across ICBs from April, giving GP practices ‘the tools and ability’ to ‘identify and refer victims and survivors into support services’, the Government said.  

It will connect patients to specialist domestic abuse and sexual violence services within their local area ‘through their GP’, and training will be offered to GP practice staff in all regions so they can ‘better identify and respond’ to domestic abuse and sexual violence.

A specialist support worker will also be made available across groups of general practices to support GP staff and ensure victims and survivors are connected with local specialist services.

In response, the RCGP said that focusing training on the wider general practice team, including both clinical and non-clinical staff, ‘may increase opportunities’ to identify potential abuse and ‘intervene appropriately’.

But it warned that GP staff must also have the capacity and protected time to ‘build trust and engage in meaningful conversations’ with patients.

‘Our goal is national provision of this service, and by 2029, any victim or survivor in England will be able to get the help they need by talking to staff at their general practice – ending the current patchwork of services,’ the Government said as it set out a raft of changes to NHS services to support victims and survivors of abuse.

The Government pointed out that in the last year alone, one in every eight women was a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking.

Health secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘The NHS is on the frontline of our response. Staff are often the first point of contact, offering support, treatment and rehabilitation. They also have eyes on those at risk.

‘So we are training them to spot the telltale signs of abuse – and, to help victims and survivors take the first steps to safety, we will roll out a new referral service across GP practices nationwide.

‘We will also end the trauma of children and young people, who have been sexually abused, having to relive their ordeal over and over by bringing a range of specialist support services under one roof to every NHS region in England.’

RCGP chair Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown said that supporting GP teams to identify signs of this violence, and having local services that can help to signpost to, will be ‘an important step forward’.

But she added that it is ‘essential’ that any new training initiatives introduced across general practice are ‘adequately funded’, aligned with existing safeguarding training, and mindful of the time required to complete training alongside the significant workload pressures faced by practices.

She said: ‘Most patients do not present to their GP specifically because they are experiencing domestic or sexual abuse.

‘However, the trusted relationships we build with our patients, alongside the safe and confidential environment general practice provides, mean that we may at times be the first professionals to recognise signs of abuse and offer support.

‘This work often relies on having sufficient time with patients to enable open, sensitive, and often distressing conversations to take place.

‘Violence against women and girls has no place in a modern society, and we welcome the Government’s commitment to addressing this issue. While GPs and our colleagues across the NHS already play an important role in supporting those affected, meaningful progress will require a coordinated, society-wide approach.’

Last week, on the first NHS Domestic Abuse Awareness Day, one GP wrote for Pulse about coercive control and the lasting effects it had on her identity, safety and career.