Job summary
- Main area
- Domestic abuse and Sexual assault advisor (Adults)
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 5
- Contract
- 12 months (Fixed term contract to run until 31/03/2026)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday - Friday 09:00 - 17:00hrs)
- Job ref
- 361-6969675-A
- Employer
- East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Lister Hospital
- Town
- Stevenage
- Salary
- £29,970 - £36,483 Per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 27/05/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 11/06/2025
Employer heading
IDVA/ISVA/ Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Practitioner
NHS AfC: Band 5
Here at East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust,
Our mission is:
Providing high-quality, compassionate care for our communities
Our vision to 2030 is:
To be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service
Job overview
We are recruiting for a Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Practitioner (ISVA, IDVA equivalent) who share our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.
Do you enjoy making a difference to patients’ lives? Are you committed to supporting colleagues in providing high-quality, compassionate care to our community?
We seek a proactive and driven individual to become a part of the East and North Herts NHS Trust. This role involves collaborating closely with victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault, beginning at the moment of crisis, and delivering exceptional advocacy and support to survivors of domestic abuse and their children.
The job will involve working within a multi-agency framework consisting of the MARAC and local partnership protocols and procedures that prioritise the safety of survivors.
At the heart of everything we do are our core values: Include, Respect, and Improve. We encourage you to embrace these values throughout the recruitment process and in your role with us.
Main duties of the job
To provide a combination of advocacy and support to anyone affected by domestic abuse and sexual assault both recent and historic.
To provide a prompt response to patients referred to the service.
Assess the risk and support needs of victims and survivors and develop individual support plans to address risks/support needs of patients.
As part of risk assessments of clients, ensure safety plans are in place with the client’s agreement and are shared with other agencies involved.
Liaise with the police, CPS, and other service providers on behalf of the client.
Support the client, if they do not wish to report to the police, with understanding their options and helping them to provide intelligence to the police if they choose, as well as then supporting them to get any other help they may need.
To identify and respond, as appropriate, to issues relating to safeguarding, child protection and protection of vulnerable adults.
To assess if the assault or client’s situation is related to domestic abuse and, when appropriate, carry out a DASH risk assessment.
Attend MARAC meetings when necessary.
Ensure that clients are aware of the services to which they are entitled and advocate for them to help access services.
To make appropriate referrals for follow up care.
To participate in the delivery of training sessions for ENHT staff
Working for our organisation
At East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general and specialist services we provide and our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible and innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.
We run the following hospitals:
- The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
- New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
- Hertford County, Hertford
- Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC), Northwood
We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation and our staff and patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.
We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. This means that any employee is entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns and we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made and considered formally, and will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification applicant pack for further detailed information regarding this role.
Person specification
Qualifications / Training
Essential criteria
- GCSEs or equivalent in Maths and English
Desirable criteria
- Hold an ISVA qualification and/or relevant experience
- Hold an IDVA qualification and/or relevant experience
Previous Experience and Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of the role of the ISVA/ sexual assault practitioner
- Knowledge of the role of the IDVA/ Domestic abuse support practitioner
- Knowledge of the legal frameworks surrounding working with individuals who are victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse
- Knowledge of the using the mental capacity act in practice
- Knowledge around the safeguarding frameworks for adults and children
- Knowledge of the Legal frameworks concerning consent and information sharing
- Knowledge of local support services to support patients who have experienced sexual violence
Desirable criteria
- Previous experience of having worked as an ISVA
- Previous experience of having worked as an IDVA
- Experience of multiagency working with police, SARCs, safeguarding services
- Experience of attending MARAC
Skills
Essential criteria
- Good communication and listening skills
- Leadership skills
- Ability to respond positively to change
- Ability to support patients who have experienced sexual violence and/or domestic abuse with compassion and empathy
- To be able to manage your own workload effectively
- To be IT literate especially on the use of Microsoft office.
Other requirements
Essential criteria
- Experience and evidence of engagement around the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda. Able to actively support the development of a culture that recognises and promotes equality, values diversity, and actively leads by example in deploying these qualities. Understands the impact on equality, diversity and inclusion issues in all aspects of service delivery and planning
- Role model our Trust values every day
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Enda Gallagher
- Job title
- Lead Nurse Adult safeguarding
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01438 284994
- Additional information
Sarah Corrigan Lead Nurse for Maternity and Children's may also be contacted on 01438 284169 for information on this post.
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