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

Rotherham review

CSP: Rotherham Published: September 2023 Year of death: 2011 Extracted: 17 recs

Statutory domestic homicide review under section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. Source: Home Office DHR Library.

View full report (PDF) ↗ Source: Home Office DHR Library

Summary

The report identifies inconsistent domestic abuse risk assessment practices across agencies, particularly the police's use of a tool that did not trigger high-risk referrals. It also notes failures in escalating concerns by medical staff and a lack of clarity in national guidance for reporting serious non-knife/gunshot injuries and defining 'homicide' for DHRs.

Extracted recommendations

17 recommendations pulled from the report

#	Recommendation	Addressed to
17.1	Consideration should be given to the national guidance for reporting gunshot and knife injuries without the consent of the victim being reviewed with a view to including life threatening injuries caused by other means.	Government
17.10	DAPG should continue to pursue the development of a performance management framework	Domestic Abuse Priority Group (DAPG)
17.11	The Health and Well Being Board should commission a scrutiny review of domestic abuse support provision by cabinet members.	Health and Well Being Board
17.12	Inevitably, when organisations differ on the identification, assessment and level of service provided there is a greater chance that potential victims and perpetrators will be overlooked and opportunities to intervene will be missed. There should be a standardisation within the Safer Rotherham Partnership of risk assessment processes including risk assessment tools.	Safer Rotherham Partnership
17.13	Domestic Abuse training for all agencies within the Safer Rotherham Partnership should include what to do in the event of negative disclosure and that further information re Domestic Abuse is available to all staff via its website.	Safer Rotherham Partnership
17.14	South Yorkshire Police should review their assessment process and provide further training and/or awareness for staff.	South Yorkshire Police
17.15	Domestic Abuse training for the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust should include what to do in the event of negative disclosure and that further information re Domestic Abuse is available to all Trust staff via its website.	Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust
17.16	The Trust’s training programme for Band 6 and above A&E staff in undertaking DASH risk assessments should be completed.	Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust
17.17	The Trust should give active support to A&E staff undertaking DASH risk assessments and their domestic abuse policy should be revised to reflect negative disclosure.	Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust
17.2	The Home Office is invited to consider the current ‘near miss’ policy identified by the Safer Rotherham Partnership for wider dissemination and implementation.	Home Office
17.3	The Home Office is invited to consider the provision of greater clarity around the definition of a DHR to include victim suicide and serious injury	Home Office
17.4	At a national level, consideration given to the Victim Support National Homicide Service funding and policy, with particular reference to engagement following criminality and clearer guidance as to what constitutes a ‘homicide’.	Government
17.5	The Safer Rotherham Partnership is well aware that raising public awareness of domestic abuse is an on-going process. The partnership should be clear that Domestic Abuse is wider than physical violence and should include all types of abuse, including coercive control. It should also include that abuse is age neutral effecting both women and men. The public awareness programme should be delivered regularly throughout the year and be accessible to all. It should be examined to ensure it identifies all aspects of abuse and that it can deliver appropriate outcomes.	Safer Rotherham Partnership
17.6	The Safer Rotherham Partnership ‘near miss’ policy should be updated to require immediate notification to the DAPG via the DAC rather than delaying referrals to the next scheduled meeting.	Safer Rotherham Partnership
17.7	The SRP MARAC Protocol and near miss protocol should be updated and explicitly state the need to share information where there is an indication of serious injury and professional judgement indicates this should be assessed as high risk should be referred to MARAC and IDVA without delay	Safer Rotherham Partnership
17.8	In the absence of national guidance, the Safer Rotherham Partnership should develop a local protocol to ensure life threatening injuries caused by other means are identified and highlighted appropriately	Safer Rotherham Partnership
17.9	IMR author training should be provided to all agencies within the Safer Rotherham Partnership and to 3rd sector organisations. The training should include critical analysis as a key component.	Safer Rotherham Partnership
Recommendations extracted from the published report. Source: Home Office DHR Library. View full report ↗