Abstract
A 60-year-old woman called Maureen from Glasgow has been added as an extra to the end of your morning clinic. She has bruises on her face, and her left humerus is fractured and her arm is in a sling. She tells you that her husband has just been arrested for a long history of domestic violence towards her. He is in police custody, although she is not sure how long he will be held there. She tells you that she finally had enough and decided to call the police. She has already attended Accident and Emergency, and has an appointment at fracture clinic, although she seems to have mislaid the appointment card. She has come to ask you for painkillers.
In addition to prescribing analgesia, what other help might you offer her?
Is there any other information it might be helpful to ask in the history?
Maureen agrees to a referral to your local domestic violence support service. However, she says her mobile phone broke in the last assault, and she has no home landline. She admits that both she and her husband usually drink quite a lot of alcohol, but says she does not think this is a problem and declines help with this.
How might you arrange for the domestic violence support service assessment to take place?
Do you think she is still at risk, and what further help might you offer her?