Agenda item

To report on;

·         The Violence Against Women and Girls strategy;

·         Current performance issues; and

·         Progress to date with the implementation of the recommendations of the  scrutiny review on Violence Against Women and Girls.      

Victoria Hill, Interim Strategic Violence Against Women and Girls Lead, reported on progress with the implementation of the recommendations of the Panel’s review on violence against women and girls. 

She stated that a lot of progress had been achieved to date.  The recommendations had been helpful, constructive and challenging.  She highlighted the following issues:

·         A new approach from Women’s Aid, entitled Change that Lasts, was being explored with national Women’s Aid as part of the development of the violence against women and girls strategy. It was hoped that Haringey might  be a pilot site. 

·         Performance was a complex issue and it was often difficult to get accurate data due to the nature of violence against women and girls.  A new data product was being developed and consideration was being given to how it could be used effectively to inform commissioning decisions;

·         Very high risk cases were referred to the MARAC.  Haringey’s rates were higher than the London average.  Cases were subject to annual assessment.  The target for the number of referrals was 410 per year by 2017 and 70% of this total had so far been achieved.   Work was taking place with community safety partners to develop a flagging mechanism in respect of repeat cases and it was envisaged that this should enable the target to be reached.  No area nationally had met the 100% target.

In answer to a question, it was noted that the role of Hearthstone had been reviewed but it remained an important part of the structure.  The term “Violence Against Women and Girls” had been agreed by the both the UN and MOPAC.  The Council had subsequently also adopted the terminology.   It recognised that women and girls were disproportionally affected by the issue but it was nevertheless acknowledged that men could also be affected and they were not excluded from services.  There was a detailed referral pathway and it was agreed that this would be re-circulated to Members of the Panel. 

Ms Hill reported that domestic violence incidents reported to the Police had increased by 20%, which mirrored the same trend seen across London. Referrals from GPs for domestic violence were still low.  However, CCG funding had now been secured for IRIS , which was hoped to increase referrals from GPs.  The IRIS scheme had led to very large increases in referrals elsewhere.  It would be commissioned for three years initially and include 25 practices.  Dentists were not included within this.

In answer to a question, Ms Hill reported that the CCG wanted to explore the effectiveness of IRIS further.  They were aiming to test the effectiveness of the scheme initially by piloting it.  This would enable comparisons to be made with other GP practices not involved.  It was agreed that the CCG would be invited to report on progress of implementing IRIS to the Panel in due course. 

The Panel noted that many people reported violence initially to childcare facilities, such as nurseries, schools and crèches.  These were linked into the MARAC.  In addition, Children’s Centres were key partners. 

AGREED:

That Haringey CCG be invited to report to a future meeting of the Panel on progress with the implementation of the IRIS scheme and initial outcomes.