Health Domestic Abuse Coordinator (DAC)
Working in partnership with NHS colleagues to improve the Trust’s response to domestic abuse across all departments.
Embedding Domestic Abuse Expertise into Healthcare Settings
Our Domestic Abuse Coordinator is an external domestic abuse specialist based within the Safeguarding Team of Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust.
By embedding independent expertise into the healthcare environment, the role helps drive system-wide improvements, promote the Coordinated Community Response (CCR), and ensure survivors are identified, supported, and safeguarded effectively.
What Is the Role?
The Hospital Domestic Abuse Coordinator is not a frontline IDVA but a strategic and operational lead for domestic abuse within the hospital.
Their core aim is to help the hospital become a place where:
Domestic abuse is recognised early
Staff are confident to respond appropriately
Victims/survivors are supported and safeguarded
Best practice and policy are embedded into daily work
This role bridges the gap between clinical teams, safeguarding leads, and community-based domestic abuse services, ensuring a joined-up, trauma-informed, and survivor-centred approach.
Key Responsibilities
Improve Identification & Response
Support hospital staff to recognise signs of domestic abuse (including coercive control, sexual violence, and honour-based abuse)
Promote routine and targeted enquiry in clinical settings
Work with departments such as A&E, maternity, urgent care, and mental health to ensure appropriate referral pathways are in place
Champion Policy & Practice Development
Develop and support the implementation of hospital-wide domestic abuse policies and procedures
Advise on risk assessments, documentation, information sharing, and safeguarding processes
Work with the safeguarding team to align hospital practice with national guidance and NICE standards
Staff Training & Capacity Building
Deliver or coordinate training, briefings and awareness sessions for all levels of staff
Help build staff confidence to respond sensitively and effectively to disclosures
Embed domestic abuse knowledge across clinical and non-clinical roles
Promote the Coordinated Community Response (CCR)
Strengthen links between the hospital and community-based domestic abuse services, including IDVAs, ISVAs, and specialist teams
Support partnership working with MARAC, social care, police, and third-sector providers
Identify gaps and support service development in line with the local Domestic Abuse Strategy
Data, Monitoring & Learning
Support the collection and analysis of data around domestic abuse presentations
Monitor referral patterns and outcomes
Provide insights for service development, audits, and governance reviews
Why It Matters
Hospitals are often the first or only place a victim of domestic abuse will come into contact with professionals. Yet domestic abuse can go unrecognised, especially if victims present with physical injuries, mental health needs, or chronic conditions.
By embedding a dedicated Domestic Abuse Coordinator within the hospitals, we help create a safe, informed, and responsive environment where domestic abuse is seen, understood, and acted upon appropriately.
Who We Work With
Hospital safeguarding teams
Emergency and urgent care departments
Maternity and children’s services
Adult and mental health teams
Community and hospital-based IDVAs
Local authorities, MARACs, and strategic safeguarding partnerships
Health commissioners and integrated care boards (ICBs)
Get in Touch
To learn more about our Hospital Domestic Abuse Coordinator model, request a referral pathway review, or discuss staff training:
Building Safer Hospitals, Together
Our Hospital Domestic Abuse Coordinators help transform hospitals into places of safety, support, and action strengthening the community response to domestic abuse, right where it’s needed most.