To ask the Minister of Health to detail any steps his Department is taking to ensure all frontline health professionals receive training to recognise and respond appropriately to disclosures of sexual violence or abuse.

My Department has implemented several initiatives to ensure that frontline health professionals are adequately trained to recognise and respond appropriately to disclosures of sexual violence or abuse.

In September 2024, my Department, in collaboration with the Department of Justice, launched the Domestic and Sexual Abuse Strategy 2024-2031. One of the key priority areas under Pillar 2 (Prevention) of this comprehensive strategy is to build capacity among people working in frontline and public-facing roles to identify and respond effectively to domestic and/or sexual abuse.

Health and Social Care Trusts have training pathways which aim to ensure anyone who has contact with people who use Trust services will have an understanding of domestic and sexual abuse to support their engagement and intervention with victims, perpetrators and their children. Those staff working with people and families affected by this issue can avail of more specialist training to equip them to undertake their role.

The Permanent Secretary has recently written to the Chief Executives of our ALBs to encourage uptake of the Domestic Abuse Context and Change e-Learning training across Health and Social Care.

My Department is currently piloting the Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS) programme in Belfast and Newry and District GP Federation areas. IRIS is a specialist domestic and sexual abuse training, support and referral programme for primary care. The core elements include training and supporting general practice to identify and refer victims of domestic and sexual abuse to appropriate services. The IRIS pilot has been subject to an evaluation and the findings are being considered. Any future roll-out of IRIS will be subject to funding.

Through these initiatives, my Department aims to ensure that frontline health professionals are adequately trained to recognise and respond to disclosures of sexual violence or abuse, thereby providing victims with the necessary support and care.