Guidance for Health Practitioners on Identifying and Addressing Intimate Partner Violence at Home
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) multi-agency guidelines offer essential recommendations for improving coordinated responses to domestic abuse across various sectors in England. These guidelines emphasize the importance of multi-agency collaboration to ensure effective identification, support, and protection of all victims of domestic abuse.
The guidelines provide valuable insights for health practitioners, commissioners, and service providers. They offer guidance on recognising and responding to signs of domestic abuse, conducting risk assessments and safety planning, and tailoring support services to meet the diverse needs of victims.
The focus of these guidelines is on adults, young people over 16, and dependent children. They do not cover children under 16 or adults not in a dependent relationship. The resource ensures that the right pathways and services are in place locally for domestic violence and abuse cases, and it explains what health practitioners need to know and do regarding domestic violence and abuse.
Furthermore, the guidelines emphasise the importance of multi-agency cooperation. Clear frameworks for information sharing and joint working among health services, social care, police, housing, and specialist domestic abuse services are outlined to provide holistic care. Ongoing training for professionals is also emphasised to recognise domestic abuse complexities and the impact on dependent children and young people, as well as the gendered nature of abuse.
These guidelines align with the broader governmental and statutory approaches to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) in England. They highlight the importance of holistic, gender-sensitive strategies and multi-sector accountability, as emphasised by recent strategic priorities and statutory frameworks introduced up to 2025.
While detailed NICE guideline documents were not included among the specific search results, the described multi-agency and multi-sector approach is consistent with NICE’s established practice in guideline development for complex social and health issues like domestic abuse. If you need, more detailed content based on NICE’s official publications can be provided directly from their website or government repositories.
[1] Government of the United Kingdom. (2020). Ending violence against women and girls: call to action. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ending-violence-against-women-and-girls-call-to-action
[2] Home Office. (2021). Domestic abuse: a 10-year strategy for England and Wales. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-abuse-a-10-year-strategy-for-england-and-wales
[4] Home Office. (2020). Domestic abuse: improving the response to victims and survivors. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-abuse-improving-the-response-to-victims-and-survivors
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) multi-agency guidelines, which emphasize the importance of holistic, gender-sensitive strategies, could potentially extend their focus to areas such as health-and-wellness and mental-health, offering suggestions for addressing the mental health needs of individuals affected by domestic abuse.
- In line with the government's approach to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG), the NICE multi-agency guidelines could be expanded to encompass recommendations for promoting health-and-wellness and mental-health among victims, ensuring comprehensive support that accounts for the unique challenges faced by victims in these areas.
