NT axes hospital domestic violence teams

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 18 Desember 2012 | 17.52

EMERGENCY department staff at two Northern Territory hospitals fear domestic violence victims discharged over Christmas will not have a safe place to go, after the NT government axed their in-house responder teams.

The domestic violence teams work out of the emergency departments at Royal Darwin Hospital and Alice Springs Hospital.

But the NT government has disbanded the teams in both facilities with staff to finish up on Friday, a nurse from Royal Darwin, who declined to be identified, told AAP on Tuesday.

The nurse, who has worked in Darwin for several years, said the team at her hospital had saved scores of lives and acted "as the guardian angels" for the mainly indigenous domestic violence victims.

"They can spend hours with them making sure that ... when the women are discharged that they have a safe place to go, such as another relative's house, and they hook them into counselling and other services," she said.

"They save us hours, so we can focus on the medical side of things."

She said domestic violence team hours were recently cut from seven to five days a week.

A spokeswoman from Darwin women's shelter Dawn House told AAP the teams were crucial in identifying domestic violence cases.

"If domestic violence is not recognised as the cause of illness and injury in those presenting at the hospital, appropriate interventions and support are less likely to be offered," she said.

The NT hospital domestic violence team program began as a pilot in 2010 and was extended because of high demand for it services.

The NT Department of Children and Families said the domestic violence teams were "currently being reviewed".

"Before the pilot scheme began, indigenous liaison officers, social workers and other hospital staff provided the necessary direct support to these victims/survivors of domestic and family violence," spokeswoman Clare Gardiner-Barnes said.

The department declined to say how much money scrapping the domestic violence teams would save.

In 2010/2011 the Royal Darwin team had 796 referrals.

The latest NT crime statistics show domestic violence offences were up 48 per cent in 2011/12, from five years ago.


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