Abstract
During your morning clinic, a 40-year-old female patient discloses to you that she was physically assaulted by her alcohol-dependent husband last week. After the incident, she required in-patient care after sustaining several fractures. Until now, she has not spoken to anybody about the assault. After gentle questioning, you learn this is not the first time she has been assaulted by her husband. However, she is sure things will be different now her partner has given up alcohol. And besides, she has nowhere else to live. She has no intention of informing the police.
Should you call the police and social services? How might your decision be impacted by the knowledge that there are young children in the household?
Footnotes
References
1.BMA (2018) Adult safeguarding ethics toolkit. Available at: www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/ethics/adult-safeguarding-ethics-toolkit (accessed 17 September 2019) .
2.General Medical Council (2019) Adult safeguarding. Available at: www.gmc-uk.org/ethical-guidance/ethical-hub/adult-safeguarding (accessed 17 September 2019) .
3.Gov.uk (2018) Domestic abuse: How to get help. Available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-abuse-how-to-get-help (accessed 17 September 2019) .