Training doctors to spot domestic abuse leads to 30-fold rise in finding victims, study says

Lead author says training programme ensures GPs do not turn ‘their back on this vulnerable group of patients’

The training programme involves changing electronic medical records to prompt healthcare staff to ask further questions about domestic abuse when they encounter patients suffering from depression, anxiety or presenting with an injury (PA)

Teaching doctors to recognise signs of domestic abuse leads to a 30-fold rise in domestic violence referrals, a study has found.

The report comes as pressure mounts on the government to provide greater support to domestic violence victims trapped at home with their abusers during the coronavirus lockdown.

Visits to the UK’s online national domestic abuse service surged by 700 per cent in a single day last month and a recent report released by MPs revealed domestic abuse killings doubled over 21 days.

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London and Bristol Medical School have found a training programme that trains GP about how to identify domestic abuse victims has led to a 30-fold increase in referrals of victims.

The training programme, rolled out to GPs, nurses, healthcare assistants and other staff in general practices, involves changing electronic medical records to prompt healthcare staff to ask further questions about domestic abuse when they encounter patients suffering from depression, anxiety or presenting with an injury.

The scheme, which is called Iris (Identification and Referral to Improve Safety), also involves a straightforward mechanism to refer those experiencing domestic abuse to specialist support services.

The social enterprise Iris, which aims to enhance healthcare reactions to gender-based violence, has been helping GPs with the best way to help domestic abuse victims during the coronavirus crisis by publishing guidance on how to carry on with the programme during phone and video interactions with patients.

Professor Chris Griffiths, one of the report’s authors, said: “Health commissioners can now commission this programme with the confidence that it works in practice. Iris can help GPs respond to the increased needs of women during Covid-19.”

The report, which was published in the journal BMC Medicine, analysed 205 general practices across London over four years.

Beth, who sought help for the domestic abuse she suffered as a direct result of the new programme to better educate GPs, said: “Iris were the first people to get right into my life and begin to make that difference. I had stressed repeatedly about what was happening to many professionals in the past but no one could really help to make it stop. By the time Iris became involved I was exhausted.

“My advocate educator was incredible, so knowledgeable, patient and intent on transforming my stuck situation. I will always feel beyond grateful to her and the team at Iris for giving me the freedom I have now. The children and I are now safe and happy. It feels amazing.”

Dr Alex Sohal, who led the study, said the programme allows GPs to “engage constructively” with domestic abuse victims rather than “turning their back on this vulnerable group of patients”.

She added: “The Iris programme has been funded in 41 English and Welsh sites, but in one quarter of those, funding has since stopped, despite the programme being effective.”

Researchers argue there is a wider issue in the UK and around the world of healthcare workers not being sufficiently aware of domestic abuse despite there being a growing consensus among experts about the need for a public health approach to the problem.

The World Health Organisation, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), and Department of Health and Social Care argued the health sector needs to be more closely involved in supporting victims and survivors.

Professor Gene Feder, one of the report’s authors, said: “This is a landmark study, showing that an evidence-based domestic violence and abuse programme commissioned within the NHS is effective and sustainable in general practice. Our findings strengthen the case for the implementation of IRIS across the whole NHS and further development of a global primary care based response to domestic violence and abuse.”

A report released last year found mental health services are “putting women at risk” by failing to ask them about their experience of domestic abuse, despite the fact 38 per cent of women who have a mental health problem have experienced domestic abuse.

The study, carried out by Agenda, a charity which campaigns for women and girls at risk, found more than a third of NHS mental health trusts are failing to ask women about domestic abuse in spite of recommended guidelines.