Attended by House of Lords members, chief executives of FTSE 100 companies, representatives from the Corporate Alliance against Domestic Violence (CAADV) and other government officials, the event was an opportunity to bring together a diverse group of employers and policy makers to exchange information, collaborate on projects and work together to instigate change and address the issues of domestic violence and its impact in the workplace.
Speaking both as Director of NHS Employers and the first male business champion for CAADV, Dean outlined the impact of domestic violence on the NHS:
“The effects for the NHS are twofold and include the direct cost of dealing with the physical and mental fallout when treating patients who are victims of violence but also include indirect effects like sickness absence and reduced productivity arising from domestic violence committed against NHS employees.
“At NHS Employers, we have been actively working to raise awareness of this issue amongst senior managers within the service by using innovative campaigns and developing information resources and tools for employers. These include a dedicated area of our website and draft policies that can be adapted for local use.
“The links between the health and well-being and wider public health agendas are there for all to see and it is a poor employer these days who is not involved in improving the health, safety and well-being of their staff.
“We believe that we can lead by example in the NHS and will be doing all we can to raise awareness in the service over the coming months.
For us domestic violence will be part of the push to embed health and well-being in NHS organisations over the next couple of years.”
For more information on NHS Employer’s work to address domestic violence, visit our webpages.