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IRISi and the Gaia Centre (run by Refuge) will be co-delivering the IRIS Programme to general practices in the London Borough of Lambeth from April 2022 onwards. The area had implemented the initiative before, but the work had to be interrupted when the funding ended. Now, Lambeth Council’s Children’s Commissioning Team together with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have set up a Health and Violence Against Women and Girls Working Group and, subsequently, have secured three years of funding for IRIS.

Rose Parker, Head of Commissioning at the council, explains why it is so important to bring a domestic abuse (DA) training programme to clinicians and access to specialist advocacy to patients to Lambeth: “We believe that the IRIS programme will create a consistent approach to responding to domestic abuse and that the length of funding will enable us to embed best practice across the borough.”

Read the full interview below.

How and when did you first learn about the IRIS programme?

Rose Parker: I first heard about the IRIS programme when I was working for the national domestic abuse charity Refuge, over ten years ago. I’ve subsequently worked in areas that have had IRIS, including Lambeth previously, and was keen that we secure further funding as Primary Care (healthcare provided in the community for people, by healthcare professionals such as GPs) is such a vital part of the work to tackle domestic abuse.

Why and how do you believe that the IRIS programme will help you to improve the response to domestic violence and abuse in Lambeth?

Rose Parker: We know that domestic abuse is best tackled through a multi-agency coordinated community response. Primary Care is an essential component of this approach as the one service that almost all victims and survivors, children and perpetrators of domestic abuse will contact. Lambeth GPs have told us about all the work they’re already doing to safeguard victims and survivors and how we can improve responses to domestic abuse in Primary Care. Alongside IRIS and the new Advocate Educators who will be based in our commissioned VAWG service, the Gaia Centre, we are also introducing a Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) Liaison Nurse to strengthen information sharing between our multi-agency panel for high-risk victims and survivors of domestic abuse (MARAC) and Primary Care. We believe that the IRIS programme will create a consistent approach to domestic abuse and that the length of funding will enable us to embed best practices across the borough.

How was the process to obtain funding for the IRIS programme? What were the obstacles and enablers in this process?

Rose Parker: Lambeth previously had an IRIS programme but the funding ended a few years ago and it had been difficult to source an alternative. We have recently launched our new partnership VAWG Strategy 2021-27 and the development of this highlighted the gaps in provision and the need to strengthen our response to domestic abuse in Primary Care. I work in Lambeth Council’s Children’s Commissioning Team and we’re integrated with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) so this enabled us to work closely to identify needs and options. We set up a Health and VAWG Working Group that has brought together partners from across the health economy, CCG and Council to work in partnership to develop the business case for funding. We presented this to the CCG who agreed to three years of funding for IRIS and the MARAC Liaison Nurse which is fantastic as it provides stability and the time to really embed learning and best practice.

For how long have you been wanting to bring the IRIS programme to Lambeth? What are your expectations?

Rose Parker: We have wanted to reinstate this programme to Lambeth since funding ended in 2016 so are excited that it is now launching and that this time the Advocate Educators are employed by our local VAWG support service and that we’ll also have the MARAC Liaison Nurse project. This will ensure a coordinated response for all victims and survivors and that they have access to additional interventions. We expect to see strengthened engagement between Primary Care and our specialist services, greater confidence in responding to victims and survivors and their children, and increased numbers of those accessing support. We have Clinical Leads who are GPs practising in Lambeth and will work closely with the Advocate Educators and offer peer support and promotion to practices. The fact that we have such a long funding period will really allow us time to create sustainable improvements.


IRISi and Social Franchising

IRISi is expanding the IRIS Network using the concept of social franchising. Social franchising is when an organisation (IRISi) packages up a proven model (the IRIS Programme) and provides carefully recruited partners (the IRIS Partners that form the IRIS Network) with the training and ongoing support they need to implement the programme and replicate the social impact.

IRISi is inviting new IRIS Partners to work with us to deliver the IRIS Programme. We are seeking specialist DVA/VAWG/GBV organisations that share our vision and values.  Our Partner Prospectus, aimed at Chief Executives and service managers who are interested in delivering the IRIS Programme, includes information about the need for the IRIS Programme, the IRIS model and the difference that it makes, what we ask for from IRIS Partners and what we provide in return.  It also explains the next steps for those who are interested in becoming IRIS Partners.

A prospectus is also available for commissioners who are interested in commissioning the IRIS Programme in their area, providing a concise overview of commissioning the IRIS Programme within the social franchise framework.

If you are a clinician or a commissioner and you believe the IRIS Programme can benefit your primary care response to Domestic Violence and Abuse, please email us at info@irisi.org.


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The IRIS Programme provides specialist advocacy and support to patients registered at IRIS-trained practices who have experienced domestic abuse.

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Partners

AVA
AVA
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
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.

http://www.safelives.org.uk/about-us

IMKAAN
IMKAAN
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 University of Bristol CAPC
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
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
STADV
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
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.

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