Standing Together Statement on the launch of ‘Never again. Again’
Standing Together calls for improved NHS response to domestic abuse following new analysis of Domestic Homicide Reviews
Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse is calling for the NHS 10 Year Health Plan to include improved responses for victim/survivors of domestic abuse following the launch of its new report “Never again. Again”.
The report reveals the potential of the NHS to transform the response to domestic abuse and save lives. The analysis of all 47 Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews published in 2024 shows that 42 (89%) had at least one recommendation for the healthcare system that could have helped prevent a death. The reviews relate to deaths which span nearly ten years (2014 to 2022).
Many of the same recommendations appeared across these 42 reviews, showing vital opportunities to save lives are often overlooked within our healthcare system.
The NHS 10 Year Health Plan is expected soon, as is the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy, in which the government will outline how it intends to deliver its manifesto pledge of halving VAWG within a decade. Standing Together is warning that unless urgent action is taken to properly engage the healthcare system on domestic abuse, this ambition will not be achieved.
The most common type of recommendation among the 42 reviews was the need for domestic abuse ‘training and learning’ among healthcare professionals – the ability to spot and respond to victims and survivors – which appeared around two thirds (66%) of the time.
While domestic abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG) is typically seen as a criminal justice issue, the NHS has more contact with victims and perpetrators than any other agency or service.
This points to the need for domestic abuse to be seen as a public health issue, as well as a criminal justice one, with a national approach to DA embedded in the NHS 10 Year Health Plan.
Over one third (35%) of the 42 reviews featured recommendations around the need for better multi-agency collaboration. These highlighted repeat failures of the healthcare system to engage specialist services such as alcohol and mental health services, and independent domestic violence advocates (IDVAs).
Standing Together was honoured to work with Phyllis Daly, whose daughter Jessica took her own life after experiencing domestic abuse, as part of the preparation for this report. Phyllis is supporting Standing Together’s call for better coordination among health services.
Phyllis told us: “Jessie was failed by a system which is plagued by siloed working and institutionalised blinkers. The domestic abuse she was suffering led to other, complex health issues such as sleep deprivation and alcohol addiction, yet none of this was picked up by the professionals she came into contact with. None were able to join the dots or form a bigger picture.
“This is where change needs to happen. The healthcare system is staffed by brilliant people, but too often they look at these issues in isolation. Instead of focusing on short-term treatments and box-ticking exercises, it needs to work more collaboratively, and holistically, so that lives can be saved and tragedies can be avoided.”
Cherryl Henry-Leach, CEO of Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse, says: “Year after year, death after death, systemic failures in our healthcare system mean opportunities to address domestic abuse have been missed and victims are dying as a result. 2025 is the year to change that. Between the Spending Review, the NHS 10 Year Health Plan and a new VAWG strategy, the government has a golden opportunity to make good on its pledge to halve violence against women and girls.”
A note on methodology:
Using the Government Library of Domestic Homicide Reviews (Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews) Standing Together undertook a search of all reviews published in 2024 which have health recommendations. Further filters were used to identify sex, age, and relationship of victim to perpetrator and then-informed by Standing Together's professional working experience of working across health - recommendations were grouped into broad categories.
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