Every Conversation Can Be a First Step Towards Safety: How IRIS Can Support Local Delivery of Steps to Safety

Last week, we were delighted to welcome colleagues from Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to our information event exploring how the IRIS (Identification & Referral to Improve Safety) programme can support local delivery of Steps to Safety, a national initiative led by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England.

The event brought together ICB representatives who have submitted an Expression of Interest for the first phase of the programme, providing an opportunity to share learning and explore how IRIS could support local delivery, if they are successfully awarded funding by DHSC.

As ICBs begin planning how they would deliver the service locally, many are exploring proven approaches that align with the programme’s requirements while building on existing good practice.

At IRISi, we shared how the IRIS programme can support these ambitions. For almost 20 years, we have worked alongside primary care teams, commissioners and specialist domestic abuse services to strengthen the healthcare response to domestic abuse and sexual violence, particularly in general practice. The programme is underpinned by evidence, research and learning, and provides an established framework that can be commissioned locally and adapted to meet the needs of individual systems.

At its heart, IRIS is about ensuring that more survivors are safely identified, listened to and connected with specialist support. We know healthcare professionals are often in a unique position to recognise the signs of domestic abuse and sexual violence and offer a safe opportunity for someone to seek help. Every conversation started and every survivor identified has the potential to be a vital first step towards safety.

The IRIS model strengthens the relationship between primary care and specialist domestic abuse services through dedicated Advocate Educators, evidence-based training and clear referral pathways. We work in partnership with local systems to understand their communities, existing services and priorities, supporting implementation in a way that reflects local need.

In 2023/24:

* An estimated 15,800 survivors were identified and supported through the IRIS programme across England and Wales.

* More than 4,600 healthcare professionals received specialist training through 1,091 training sessions delivered by over 100 Advocate Educators.

* Nearly two-thirds of service users had not previously accessed specialist domestic abuse or sexual violence support, demonstrating the role IRIS plays in reaching people who may otherwise never receive specialist help.

Independent research has also shown that practices delivering the IRIS programme are 30 times more likely to refer patients into specialist domestic abuse services than practices without the programme.

Reflecting on the event, Medina Johnson, CEO of IRISi, said:

“It was wonderful to see so many ICBs at yesterday’s event, all sharing a commitment to strengthening the response to domestic abuse within primary care.

As ICBs consider how they will deliver Steps to Safety locally, they do not have to start from scratch. IRIS is an established, independently evaluated programme that can be commissioned locally, providing a proven framework that aligns with the ambitions of Steps to Safety while allowing flexibility to meet local needs.

We look forward to continuing conversations with ICBs exploring how IRIS could support delivery in their area.”

Thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to such valuable discussions.

If you’re exploring how the IRIS programme could support delivery in your area, we’d love to hear from you. Whether you’re developing your current plans or thinking ahead to future Expressions of Interest, our team would be pleased to talk through how IRIS works and what implementation looks like.

Contact our team: Network@irisi.org

ICB's irisi stepstosafety

Partners

AVA

AVA is an expert, groundbreaking and independent charity working across the UK.

Their vision is a world without gender based violence and abuse. They aim to inspire innovation and collaboration and encourage and enable direct service providers to help end gender based violence and abuse particularly against women and girls.AVA’s work is focused around those areas where they can make the best contribution to ending violence and abuse. They do this by making sure that survivors get the help and support they need in the here and now, through providing innovative training that has a proven direct impact on the professional practice of people supporting survivors of violence and abuse

developing a range of toolkits, e-learning and other material that supports professionals to provide effective and appropriate support to survivors of violence and abuse

using our influence and networks to ensure survivors voices are heard. We work closely with AVA in many areas including the Pathfinder project

https://avaproject.org.uk

SafeLives

SafeLives are a national charity dedicated to ending domestic abuse, for good. We combine insight from services, survivors and statistics to support people to become safe, well and rebuild their lives. Since 2005, SafeLives has worked with organisations across the country to transform the response to domestic abuse, with over 60,000 victims at highest risk of murder or serious harm now receiving co-ordinated support annually. SafeLives are members of the Pathfinder consortium.

About us

IMKAAN

Imkaan is a UK-based, Black feminist organisation. We are the only national second-tier women’s organisation dedicated to addressing violence against Black and minoritised women and girls i.e. women and girls which are defined in policy terms as Black and ‘Minority Ethnic’ (BME). The organisation holds nearly two decades of experience of working around issues such as domestic violence, forced marriage and ‘honour-based’ violence.

They work at local, national and international level, and in partnership with a range of organisations, to improve policy and practice responses to Black and minoritised women and girls. Imkaan works with it’s members to represent the expertise and perspectives of frontline, specialist and dedicated Black and minoritised women’s organisations that work to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. Imkaan delivers a unique package of support which includes: quality assurance; accredited training and peer education; sustainability support to frontline Black and minoritised organisations; and facilitation of space for community engagement and development. They are a part of the Pathfinder Consortium.

https://www.imkaan.org.uk

The University of Bristol CAPC

The Centre for Academic Primary Care (CAPC) is a leading centre for primary care research in the UK, one of nine forming the NIHR School for Primary Care Research. It is part of Bristol Medical School, an internationally recognised centre of excellence for population health research and teaching.

A dedicated team of researchers at the Centre work on domestic abuse projects and IRISi is a co-collaborator and partner on some of these projects including ReProvide, HERA and DRiDVA.

The Health Foundation

The Health Foundation is an independent charity committed to bringing about better health and health care for people in the UK. The Health Foundation’s Exploring Social Franchising programme aims to generate a deeper understanding of the potential of social franchising models for scaling effective health and social care interventions within the NHS.

We are one of four project teams participating in the programme to develop a social franchise to enable the sustainable spread of our intervention, the IRIS Programme. We receive funding and support from the Health Foundation, including technical expertise on social franchising, and attend programme learning events. The Health Foundation has also commissioned a programme-wide evaluation to support understanding of the use of social franchising in the UK health and care system. We and our franchisees will support the evaluation through co-designing data collection requirements, providing access to data as requested, hosting site visits and attending learning events.

https://www.health.org.uk

STADV

Standing Together Against Domestic Violence is a UK charity bringing communities together to end domestic abuse. They bring local services together to keep people safe

Most public services weren’t designed with domestic abuse in mind, and they often struggle to keep people safe. Poor communication and gaps between services put survivors at risk.

STADV aim to end domestic abuse by changing the way that local services respond to it. They do this through an approach that they pioneered, called the Coordinated Community Response. The Coordinated Community Response brings services together to ensure local systems truly keep survivors safe, hold abusers to account, and prevent domestic abuse.

Their model of a coordinated local partnership to tackle and ultimately prevent domestic violence is now widely accepted as best practice. They are also a part of the Pathfinder consortium.

http://www.standingtogether.org.uk

Spring Impact

Spring Impact is a not-for-profit social enterprise born out of the frustration of seeing social organisations constantly reinventing the wheel and wasting scarce resources. Spring Impact uses a combination of tested commercial and social principles and extensive practical expertise to support organisations to identify, design and implement the right social replication model to scale their social impact.