About this page. This page summarises a Domestic Homicide Review published in the Home Office DHR Library. The full report is available at the source link below. Victim and perpetrator names are not included in extracted summaries on this page.
Source · Domestic Homicide Review
Sandwell review
CSP: SandwellPublished: December 2022Extracted: 7 recs
Statutory domestic homicide review under section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. Source: Home Office DHR Library.
The review identified missed opportunities for health professionals to routinely enquire about domestic abuse during the victim's pregnancies. It also highlighted a general lack of understanding among family, friends, and colleagues regarding coercive and controlling behaviour and its impact on the victim.
Home Office classifications
31 tags
Source-supplied classifications used by the Home Office to catalogue this review.
Victim - mental ill health
Victim - anxiety
Victim - panic attacks
Victim - suicidal thoughts
Victim - had been a victim of an abuser before
Children - under 18 shared parental responsibility (victim and perpetrator)
Children - under 18 shared parental responsibility (between victims)
Children - under 18 shared parental responsibility (between perpetrators)
Children - living with victim (including adult children)
Children - living with perpetrator (including adult children)
Children - present at homicide (including adult children)
Child - primary address same as victim
Perpetrator - substance misuse
Perpetrator - mental ill health
Perpetrator - depression
Perpetrator - died by suicide
Aggravating factors - coercive or controlling behaviour
Aggravating factors - psychological or emotional abuse
Aggravating factors - physical abuse
DHR process - family contributed to dhr
DHR process - family supported by expert specialist advocate
DHR process - family received draft report
DHR process - health services recommendations
DHR process - employer recommendations
DHR process - community safety partnership recommendations
DHR process - identification of risk recommendation themes
DHR process - training recommendation themes
DHR process - multi agency working recommendation themes
DHR process - record keeping recommendation themes
DHR process - awareness raising recommendation themes
DHR process - other recommendation themes
Extracted recommendations
7 recommendations pulled from the report · 1 matched to organisations in the index
Addressed to
Birmingham Women’s Hospital | Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust Community Midwifery Service
Birmingham Women’s Hospital and Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust Community Midwifery Service should review the ante-natal ‘Routine Enquiry’ questionnaire and ensure there is clear guidance on when questions concerning domestic abuse are asked and that practitioners follow protocols and national guidance.
Addressed to
Birmingham Women’s Hospital | Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust Community Midwifery Service
All frontline staff who engage in maternity and midwifery services should receive regular and updated training into the signs of coercive and controlling behaviour and the risk factors associated with that behaviour.
The Safer Sandwell Partnership should take the lead in working with other relevant Boards to ensure domestic abuse remains a priority across partnerships. This should include detailed and fact-based reviews on the outcomes of the work and training that has been undertaken; to determine its effectiveness.
The Safer Sandwell Partnership should undertake work to encourage employers to engage with the ‘Employer’s Initiative’ on domestic abuse and utilise the ‘Business in the Community’ toolkit on domestic abuse.
The Safer Sandwell Partnership should promote guidance available to friends, family or colleagues of someone they suspect is in an abusive or unhealthy relationship on how they could help them in an informed, supportive and non-judgemental way to identify possible options and solutions.
The Safer Sandwell Partnership should consider providing advice to frontline practitioners about the possible effects of cocaine and alcohol abuse on individuals. Multi-agency training in domestic abuse should include this information.
The Safer Sandwell Partnership to contact key organisations involved with this DHR and the Domestic Abuse Strategic Partnership partners and remind them of the learning from recent DHRs, in particular relating to coercive and controlling behaviour, and ensure the recommendations contained in them are implemented.