Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Dedication
- one Introduction
- two Domestic violence and the medical profession
- Part One Domestic violence patients speak out
- Part Two Clinicians’ knowledge and clinical experience of domestic violence
- Part Three Clinicians’ training and inter-agency collaboration
- fourteen Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Appendix 1 Details of research participants
- Appendix 2 Useful information and contacts
eleven - Intra-professional collaboration and communication
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Dedication
- one Introduction
- two Domestic violence and the medical profession
- Part One Domestic violence patients speak out
- Part Two Clinicians’ knowledge and clinical experience of domestic violence
- Part Three Clinicians’ training and inter-agency collaboration
- fourteen Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Appendix 1 Details of research participants
- Appendix 2 Useful information and contacts
Summary
A number of issues have already been raised by both participant groups about the communication which occurs between health professionals. These include: communication between primary and secondary services; different members of the individual primary practice surgeries; and issues related to the professional roles of different health practitioners. This chapter addresses these issues, as it is important to contextualise and understand the complexity of the medical professions before looking at collaboration beyond these professional groups in light of multi-agency initiatives. This chapter will address the relative positions of health visitors, nurses and female general practitioners, and the communication across primary and secondary service providers, in order to identify issues which arise as a result of the differentiation of professional responsibilities. The historical emergence of different health professionals has defined many of the boundaries which currently exist between specific practitioners. It should also be acknowledged that, due to the impact of socially caused ill health, many of these boundaries are shifting as a result of the so-called ‘health crisis’. The following discussions should be considered, therefore, as grounded in these contemporary changes.
Health visitors and practice nurses
The following extracts come from one of the interviewed health visitors, and relate to her experiences of working with practice nurses, other health visitors and general practitioners.
“I think it helps if you’ve got a peer group support as well, if you can go back to the office and say ‘I really mishandled that, what do you reckon I could do to make amends’, and then you can go back with confidence and say ‘I think the last time we met you were trying to tell me something about … and I’m sorry I wasn't receptive but …’ or, ‘Would you like to tell me more about such and such?’, I think that's something I find very difficult with health visiting at the moment. We used to have a lovely support group together, based here, there were always five of us likely to be around when you came back to the office and you can say ‘Oh I don't know’ and you can bounce ideas off people and you come back with ‘Well maybe it's not that disastrous after all, don't do yourself down, you can go back and do, and pick it up’, because you always can can't you?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Domestic Violence and HealthThe Response of the Medical Profession, pp. 151 - 164Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2000