Cardiff and Vale Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS) Project

The NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, hosted by Velindre NHS Trust are acting on behalf of Cardiffand Vale University Local Health Board who are seeking to award a contract for Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS) Project.The service is to improve the identification of and response to patients who are or have been affected by domestic violence and abuse across general practices in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. This will enable compliance with NICE guidance on how health services can respond more effectively to domestic abuse, it will also ensure primary care responds to Welsh Government legislation.The contracted service will provide a Specialist DVA worker who will be referred to as the IRIS Advocate Educator (AE). The AE will be experienced at providing DVA advocacy and be an effective trainer. The AE will be responsible for contacting and recruiting practices, providing joint training with an identified clinical lead to practice staff; providing consultancy and support to practice staff and acting as a single point of contact for staff to refer any patient who may be affected by DVA. The AE will then complete necessary risk assessments, offer appropriate support and make onward referrals in line with Care Pathways. In the first instance the AE along with the clinical lead will receive training about the IRIS approach from the IRISi team. Only IRIS Trained Individuals who have successfully completed the Course may deliver the IRIS Programme. On request IRISi will provide a list of activities that a new IRIS team member may undertake before they have had an opportunity to complete their IRIS training.The objectives of the service are to:A) Increase knowledge of general practice staff about DVA and the help available for those patients affectedB) Improve the confidence of general practice staff to recognise and ask questions about possible abuse in a safe wayC) Make appropriate referrals (in a timely manner appropriate to the needs of the patient and the identified risk) resulting in improved patient careD) Improve the recording of DVA in the patients’ medical notesE) Increase the number of patients referred from general practices for help with DVAF) Improve data collection and analysis of the number of disclosures and referralsG) Improve the safety of patients by reducing repeat victimisationH) Bridge any gaps between the General Medical and IRIS Services