Practice staff issues
There are personal issues that may affect a health
professional’s ability to care for families living with violence.
They may have difficulty in believing or exploring a disclosure.
They may become over-involved and distressed about a case. They may
put themselves at risk of personal danger from the perpetrator. A
proportion will themselves be experiencing (or perpetrating)
domestic violence. For all these reasons health professionals need
to be able to seek and find personal support and supervision to
help them understand, cope and, if necessary, withdraw from dealing
with a particular case. This could be by internal practice
referral.