Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on implementing the commitment in the violence against women and girls strategy March 2016 to firmly embed routine enquiry into domestic abuse in maternity and mental health services.

The Department is strongly committed to improving the services for people who are victims of domestic abuse and violence. We have funded online training material and will shortly publish online an updated resource for health professionals on domestic abuse. This will include pointers to help practitioners identify potential victims, initiate sensitive routine enquiry and respond effectively to disclosures of abuse.

The Department has also funded for three years the Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS) programme, which trains and supports general practitioners in asking about and responding to domestic abuse and violence. IRIS has been adopted in over 800 general practices so far.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidance on domestic abuse and is now considering with health professional bodies what further training and development materials might be required.

The Department is currently piloting, before rolling out across England, sensitive routine enquiry about abuse in childhood and adulthood in a range of targeted services. At the same time, we are considering how routine enquiry specifically into domestic abuse could be more firmly embedded into practice in maternity and mental health services.