June 2018 – Sarah Blake

Many of us are already using online healthcare facilities. ‘Patient Access’ has been available for some time. I use it myself for convenient repeat prescriptions. The area of digital health technology is growing at a phenomenal rate as it is being incorporated into apps and internet access. Government policy intends that ‘electronic personal health records’ will eventually be accessible to every adult in the UK via the internet and are supporting an NHS app to help create this future vision. This means that patient investigation results, prescriptions, health files and appointment booking facilities will be available for the general population to access from their personal computers and smartphones. Continue reading “ELECTRONIC PERSONAL HEALTH RECORDS. There are many benefits but what about the risks?”

The SafeLives Dash is the most commonly used risk assessment tool available to help professionals assess the risk of serious harm and homicide for domestic abuse victims. It has been absolutely invaluable in my work.

When risk assessing women who experienced domestic abuse, I have always asked the question ‘Are you very frightened?’ It is question number two on the DASH. Fairly frequently, they would respond to the question by saying ‘No, I’m not feeling frightened.’

I would continue the assessment. ‘Have you ever been raped?…. Have you ever been strangled?’ They would sometimes reply ‘Yes’ despite having just told me that they were not feeling afraid.

Continue reading “Are you afraid? Identifying victims of domestic abuse. Ask the question but don’t always expect a straightforward answer”