Newham review

Community Health Newham (East London Foundation Trust (ELFT) and GP practices need to agree a process which ensures that where children under five years of age register or deregister with a GP, the health visiting service is informed. In addition where the parent(s) are vulnerable, this information should be shared and the family discussed at practice meetings and a care plan agreed. This recommendation is a CQC/SCR requirement and is in the process of being implemented.

All agencies to have basic domestic violence awareness training, supplemented by multi-agency training for relevant staff that includes an awareness of risk factors.

Ensure commissioning of school nursing services includes providers that have a policy in place which follows up those children not known to health services at school entry. This needs to include pro-active work with families where they do not respond to school entry health questionnaires as these will be the most vulnerable of children.

Raise community awareness of domestic violence to:
• Ensure that concerned friends and family members have an awareness of where to go for help
• Challenge myths and stereotypes about domestic violence

A rolling programme of domestic violence awareness be provided to the GP practices in Newham as part of their safeguarding training

All agencies to review their referral processes for children at risk of significant harm

Exploration with GPs as to the best way to flag women who are/have been subjected to domestic abuse on the practice IT system and also have it identified within the children’s records. The new General Medical Council guidance for doctors highlights the need for family members to be linked. This is particularly important where the parents have different names and do not necessarily reside in the same house.

The Panel originally wanted to recommend the following for Cafcass:
Where there are allegations of current domestic violence and disputes over child contact, the local Children’s Services should be routinely notified.
However, Cafcass rejected this recommendation stating:
We did, in fact, do that as a matter of policy for a period of time but stopped. We receive over 45K private law applications per year. Domestic violence is a feature of about one half of these. Sending approximately 22K notifications to Children’s Services per annum is not seen as good safeguarding practice by either us or Children’s Services. Our child protection policy therefore directs staff to make child protection referrals to Children’s Services where our information (including that derived from domestic violence) suggests that a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm (Children Act 1989).
Consequently the Panel, specifically supported by LB Newham Children’s Services, would now like to recommend that the Government take up this issue nationally.

Each refuge in Newham to have a named health visitor who will be responsible for the health needs of all the families within that refuge.

Government: Cafcass be made a statutory partner for DHRs, similar to their role in local safeguarding procedures.

Commissioners: Ensure that domestic violence provision in the locality is not solely focused on risk but also offers opportunities for early intervention and counselling / resettlement support. Commissioners should also take account of the specialist nature of this work which is not easily replicated in generic provision.

LB Newham Housing: When applicants are referred from another Borough, routine screening of domestic violence should be done.

Explore ways in which solicitors might be included within local partnerships

Police: When undertaking risk assessments, officers should ask for a history of abuse.

LB Newham Adult Services to consider referral pathways / contract management of Floating Support Service to ensure vulnerable women like the victim do not fall through the gaps in provision.

Schools to share domestic violence information with health. The school should have raised their knowledge of domestic violence history, especially when they knew the perpetrator was once again residing with the victim.

The family wished to recommend some form of action or policy which could address the issue of perpetrators abusing extended family members living abroad. Whilst they accept that no country has resources enough to undertake extensive investigations overseas, they felt that agencies would have taken the victim a lot more seriously had she felt able to report these 'overseas' incidents to them openly and that the perpetrator may not have progressed to murder if police / agencies had begun to question him about them and warn him against any further such actions. This is clearly beyond the authority of Newham CSP but the Panel would thus recommend that Government explore this at a national level to explore the possibilities that may exist to move towards this outcome.