Wiltshire review

Wiltshire Safer Communities Partnership should promote public and professional awareness of economic abuse as a method of coercive control. They should seek assurance from its agencies that they have enacted the new statutory definition of economic abuse within their policies and practice.

Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership to consider introducing and arranging for the evaluation of a pilot programme with social housing providers on undertaking safe, routine enquiry into domestic abuse in circumstances where agencies become aware that an individual has separated or undergoing relationship breakdown. The programme should require policy, guidance and training for practitioners to enable safe enquiry and safety planning to be effectively taken with the victim and, where necessary, steps taken to protect the individual or family. The programme should link into existing work being undertaken locally to address the learning from the Child Safeguarding Review Panel on the invisibility of abusive men/fathers to safeguarding agencies. The results of the evaluation should be considered for their broader impact on health, social care and criminal justice agencies response to separation in the context of domestic abuse

The Department of Health and Social Care to consider commissioning research into the effectiveness of selective, routine enquiry into domestic abuse, where health indicators are present, in a range of secondary care services.

Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership to promote routine enquiry and seek assurance from front line health services and beyond, that routine enquiry into domestic abuse, where health indicators are present, is being undertaken and embedded into local procedures.

Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership, working with specialist service providers who have experience of supporting Polish women experiencing domestic abuse, to identify the most effective way to increase awareness of domestic abuse and the services available amongst Polish communities and develop an action plan around this. This should involve making links with the local Polish community in order to build trust and confidence in the development of resources to meet the community’s needs.

Patients presenting with indicators of possible domestic violence or abuse to be offered a private discussion by an appropriately trained member of the SMP team.

Ensure an interpreting service is available to clinicians when English is not the patient’s first language.

An easy-to-use interpreting Language Line service/App is available for all clinicians to utilise during their consultations, when English is not the patient’s first language.

Ensure the documentation of safeguarding at a consultation is completed following a patient presentation with a possible indicator of DV and abuse.

To arrange for the applications (Apps) on the SMART devices used within telephone and face-to-face templates for all GP appointments include prompts for domestic abuse. These new applications (Apps) will be rolled out to the primary care networks in the area.

To consider whether the individual recommendations for the GP Practice need to be applied more broadly, and if so, gain assurance from primary care in order to improve responses to domestic abuse across the system.

To provide dedicated domestic abuse training for the Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSA) within the school.

To pursue changes to the computer system to highlight where changes of address occur mid incident.

Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership to seek assurance from its agencies in the form of equality audits that services are meeting the needs of Polish women and children experiencing abuse. The Partnership should consider whether this recommendation should also be extended to other minoritised communities.

In view of the proportionally high number of domestic homicides involving Polish communities, the Home Office to consider undertaking a composite review of their corresponding domestic homicide reviews in order to share learning and best practice concerning this marginalised group. The Partnership should consider whether this recommendation should also be extended to other minoritised communities.

Support roles within schools, particularly those with language skills, are in a privileged position to enable disclosure of domestic abuse from marginalised children that they work with. Dedicated domestic abuse training, rather than being delivered within broader safeguarding training with competing demands, enables the development of understanding and skills to enable and address disclosures of domestic abuse more effectively. Wiltshire Council Education and Skills Directorate should provide dedicated domestic abuse training for support assistants within its workforce and promote the delivery of dedicated domestic abuse training for all support assistants in schools and colleges within its area.

In order to strengthen the role of employers in supporting their employees and addressing domestic abuse, Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership should promote the Toolkit for Employers and promote membership of the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse amongst its partner agencies.