Hospital IDVA (Independent Domestic Violence Advisor)

The Health IDVA will be employed by FearFree to develop pathways and processes for the Health IDVA primarily in Maternity Services, A&E and Psychiatric Liaison at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (RD UH).

The Health IDVA will work within a dynamic, fast paced, crisis intervention, advocacy and support service embedded within the hospital to ensure all staff are aware of Domestic Abuse, and equipped to ask the right questions and encourage both patients and staff to engage with the support the Health IDVA will bring to this environment.

The post holder will assist health practitioners to respond more effectively to domestic abuse, particularly those with complex and multiple needs, and will bring specialist knowledge and skills in empowering clients to seek the right support,  and move forward.

The work will include providing specialist knowledge and expertise to other health care practitioners to ensure victims of domestic abuse (and their children) are safeguarded from further harm, to provide a strong partnership approach to service provision.

Priority will be given to medium and high risk cases that are employees and patients of RD & E Hospital – those who do not live in Exeter to be sign-posted to specialist support within FearFree Devon (excluding Torbay and Plymouth). To work with all victims of abuse (male or female) that have health related needs in the Exeter area.

Key elements of the role include:  

• Providing priority support to both patients and staff at the hospital
• Delivering Domestic Abuse training to all staff at the hospital equipping them to recognise all forms of Domestic Abuse and ensuring they are confident in starting those conversations.
• Risk assessing and helping to keep service users safe through safety planning.
• Enabling victims to access and engage with statutory and other services.
• Engaging with and supporting the MARAC process, to ensure that the voice of victims is heard.
• Managing a caseload of medium to  high-risk victims and working proactively to support them and their families.
• Developing and maintaining working relationships with additional services relevant to this field.
• Ensuring services and resources are appropriate and tailored to services users needs. 

For a full job description/person specification and to apply, please follow the link provided on this website. There is no specific closing date for this role and this vacancy will close once a suitable candidate is found, so early applications are encouraged.

FearFree is committed to encouraging equality and diversity in the workplace.  We strive to be a diverse and inclusive place to work where we can all be ourselves and individual differences are recognised and valued.