Helpdesk
There have been several organisational changes in Scotland in recent years including the formation of a single national police force; Police Scotland, and transfer of forensic and custody care to individual NHS boards in April 2012.
The Victim and Witness (Scotland) Act 2014 legislation includes offering a choice of gender of examiner to those disclosing sexual violence.
In response to the acknowledgement of low numbers of female sexual offences practitioners, NHS Education Scotland undertook a survey to explore the challenges perceived by female in practising Sexual Offences Medicine. Access to appropriate quality training was one of the areas highlighted.
In 2017, the Scottish Government convened a Task Force for the Improvement of Services for Victims of Rape and Sexual Assault chaired by the Chief Medical Officer. The Task Force’s vision, to be delivered by 2022, is ‘Consistent, person-centred, trauma-informed healthcare and forensic medical services and access to recovery, for anyone who has experienced rape or sexual assault in Scotland’ and is supported by four concurrent workstreams. The high level work plan was published in October 2017 including support to recruit more female practitioners to address this imbalance.
Alongside the work of the Forensic Taskforce, Health Improvement Scotland (HIS) published standards in December 2017 addressing Healthcare and Forensic Medical Services for children, young people and adults who have experienced rape, sexual assault or child sexual abuse to ensure consistency in approach to services for anyone who has experienced and discloses sexual violence. The standards will set the same high level of care for everyone, regardless of the geographical location or an individual’s personal circumstances or age. The standards aim to support a multi-professional, multi-agency co-ordinated response to promote optimal care and to minimise any additional trauma. Standardising the quality of care offered will further ensure the timely collection of high quality evidence to support any criminal justice proceedings. The standards are intended to compliment, not duplicate, existing standards and guidelines and reflect relevant legislation and guidance.
This course aims to address these issues and promote the recommendations in the recently published standards and the outcomes from the Forensic Task Force workstreams.
The unique geography of Scotland requires consideration of a blended approach to learning to be as accessible to urban as to rural and remote practitioners.
The course aims to provide a foundation in the minimum standards of practice. In addition, to motivate and signpost delegates to take responsibility for continued learning in a supported way whilst encouraging national networking and participation in peer review.