GPAtlasWhat it covers
What the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 counts as abuse, in plain words, and who it happens to. The signs a GP practice actually sees, and how to ask without putting anyone in danger. What to say, what to write, who to tell the same day, and how a letter, a text or an online record can reach the wrong hands.
Who it is for
Everyone who works in the practice: reception and administration, practice managers, healthcare assistants, nurses, pharmacists, GPs and trainees.
By the end you will be able to
- Say what the 2021 Act counts as domestic abuse, and who it covers.
- Recognise the signs a practice sees at the desk, on the phone and in clinic.
- Ask safely, or know why today is the wrong day to ask.
- Respond to a disclosure without promising secrecy, and record it so it stands up.
- Keep the record, the post and the phone out of an abuser's reach.
- Name the pathway, and know when a concern is shared without consent.
Modules
- What domestic abuse is
- What the practice sees
- The response and the record
- The pathway and the people
Your practice safeguarding lead and your local domestic abuse pathway, IRIS or its equivalent where one is commissioned, apply alongside this course. For GPs, nurses and others who ask about abuse, NICE recommends Level 2 training that includes face-to-face practice, such as IRIS; this course covers the knowledge.
Content mapped to the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 statutory guidance, NICE guideline PH50 and NICE quality standard QS116. Law named: Domestic Abuse Act 2021, sections 1 to 3.
Sources
- Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 1: definition of domestic abuse
- Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 2: definition of personally connected
- Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 3: children as victims of domestic abuse
- Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 68: amendment of the controlling or coercive behaviour offence, in force 5 April 2023
- Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 71: consent to serious harm for sexual gratification not a defence
- Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 77: guidance about the disclosure of police information (the statutory footing for Clare's Law)
- Serious Crime Act 2015, section 76: controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship, as amended
- Serious Crime Act 2015, section 75A: strangulation or suffocation, inserted by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and in force 7 June 2022
- Domestic Abuse: statutory guidance, accessible version (Home Office, published 8 July 2022)
- Controlling or coercive behaviour statutory guidance framework, accessible version (Home Office, updated 27 July 2023)
- Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, accessible version (Home Office, April 2023, updated 16 August 2023)
- Domestic violence and abuse: multi-agency working, recommendations (NICE public health guideline PH50, published 26 February 2014)
- Domestic violence and abuse, quality statement 1: asking about domestic violence and abuse (NICE quality standard QS116)
- Dash risk checklist resources for professionals (SafeLives)
- Learn more about the Marac (SafeLives)
- Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (Marac): guidance for GPs (SafeLives)
- Pathfinder profile: general practitioners, guidance for GPs responding to domestic abuse (SafeLives)
- What to do if you need urgent police help through the 999 service but cannot speak (Independent Office for Police Conduct, Silent Solution guide)
- National Domestic Abuse Helpline (Refuge)
- Men's Advice Line (Respect)
- Respect Phoneline (Respect)
- National Helpline for LGBT+ Victims and Survivors of Abuse and Violence, for people aged 18 and over (Galop)
- About the IRIS programme (IRISi)
- Children Act 1989, section 31(9): the definition of harm, including impairment from seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another
- Children Act 1989, section 47: local authority duty to investigate
- Care Act 2014, section 42: enquiry by local authority
- Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, Part 2, paragraph 18: safeguarding of children and of individuals at risk
- Migrant victims of domestic abuse concession, accessible version (Home Office, updated 17 July 2026)
- Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2025 (Office for National Statistics)
- How to register with a GP surgery (NHS)
- Independent Domestic Violence Adviser statutory guidance, issued under section 16(7) of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (Ministry of Justice, 9 May 2025)
- Redacting information for online record access (NHS England); the site refuses automated fetching, so this was verified by search
- Confidentiality: disclosures for the protection of patients and others (General Medical Council); the site refuses automated fetching, so this was verified by search
- Guidelines for clinical management of non-fatal strangulation in acute and emergency care services (Institute for Addressing Strangulation, February 2024, updated July 2025)
- How long do people live with domestic abuse, and when do they get help? (SafeLives)
- A Cry for Health: why we must invest in domestic abuse services in hospitals (SafeLives, 2016), designed report: 46 per cent of victims had seen their GP in the 12 months before an Idva, and 51,355 NHS staff were likely to have experienced abuse in the past 12 months (archived copy)
- The sensitivity and specificity of four questions (HARK) to identify intimate partner violence: a diagnostic accuracy study in general practice (Sohal, Eldridge and Feder, 2007)
- Children Act 2004, section 16LA: duty to share information relevant to a child's safety or welfare, consent not required, in force in England from 30 September 2026 (inserted by the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026; commencement by SI 2026/803, regulation 6)
- Information Sharing Duty: statutory guidance for safeguarding organisations and their practitioners (Department for Education, September 2026): applies to GPs and other primary care providers; information about an adult connected to a child; consent not required
GPAtlas is not accredited, verified or endorsed by Skills for Health or NHS England. Acceptance of this training is at the discretion of your employer, who remains responsible for confirming it meets local requirements. Your employer may require more frequent refreshers than the guidance period; the practice's own policy applies. Some pictures and films in our courses, and the film narration, are made with AI tools. We check every one for accuracy before we publish it.