Published: August 7th 2023. The Conversation. Authors: Natasha Kennedy and Amrita Bandyopadhyay, The National Centre for Population Health & Wellbeing Research.
Identifying domestic abuse victims earlier could help to reduce future emergency medical admissions. Our new research shows how this could be done before a victim even involves the police by connecting information gathered by the police and hospitals.
Our study showed that many victims of domestic abuse often visit accident and emergency departments before the police get involved. This means that healthcare professionals can play a crucial role in identifying and helping people who are experiencing abuse.
We combined data from the police with data from GPs and accident and emergency hospital admissions. We focused on residents in the South Wales Police catchment area who had experienced domestic abuse between August 2015 and March 2020, and who were given a public protection notification (PPN). This is a document that records safeguarding concerns about adults or children.