Staff Engagement Survey Pre- and 6-months Post Introduction of Routine Domestic Abuse Enquiry 

Background: 
In July 2015, routine domestic abuse (DA) enquiry was introduced in a busy, walk-in, inner-London, genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic. Guidelines, proforma and management pathway were devised. Tiered training was/is provided (basic level for all staff, in-depth for Sexual Health Information Protection team and DA champions). A separate audit demonstrated 91% of walk-in GUM patients were asked about DA, following routine enquiry introduction.

Aims:
To assess staff engagement with routine DA enquiry.

Methods:
On-line survey disseminated to GUM healthcare professionals, two weeks prior to, and 6 months post-introduction of, routine DA enquiry.

Results:
27 vs. 20 staff completed the surveys. The majority were female [70 vs. 90%]. Respondents were doctors [48.1% vs. 42.1%], nurses [44.4% vs. 57.9%] and healthcare assistants [7.4% vs. 0%]. 3.7% vs. 20% had worked in GUM <1 year.

87.5% vs 89.5% had received training, 85.0% vs. 100% of these respectively had rated this good-excellent.

4.8% vs. 66.7% of respondents reported having managed patients disclosing DA at least once/week. 14.3% pre-introduction vs. 0% post-introduction respondents had never managed a patient disclosing DA.

Respondents reported feeling ‘very confident’ asking about DA [16.7% vs. 63.2%].
45.8% vs. 63.2% thought ‘Routine DA enquiry was a great idea…why hadn’t we introduced earlier?’ 8.3% pre-introduction respondents had some reservations vs. 0% post-introduction.

Discussion/conclusion:
Staff engagement in routine DA enquiry was high from the outset and improved over 6 months.  Levels of experience and confidence in DA enquiry improved dramatically over this period.