Hello everyone, my name is Vicki Golden, I am a Senior Sister in the Emergency Department at the Whittington Hospital and am delighted to be working with the Violence Reduction Programme as a Darzi Fellow.

The Darzi Fellowship is an academic programme supporting Fellows to lead a live piece of systems change work- the “Darzi Challenge”. My Darzi Challenge is to improve the anonymised data shared by London’s 28 Emergency Departments regarding assault related presentations through Information Sharing to Tackle Violence (ISTV). Information Sharing to Tackle Violence – London Datastore

Working in an ED over the last 10 years, I have witnessed the devastating acute and long-term impact violence has on victims, their families and friends. The cyclical nature of violence has been evident, and this has motivated my intention to do something to break the cycle.

Data is key to informing change, and ED’s are uniquely positioned to collect data that would be otherwise unavailable, largely relating to the most vulnerable in society- those who are least likely to report violence to the police. ISTV data can be used locally to enable targeted interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence and harm cause by violence and contribute to an evidence base for the work of the Violence Reduction Academy, enabling the development of new models of care.

Models similar to ISTV have had proven success in reducing the most serious violence in other cities around the world, but London has struggled to produce actionable data over the past 10 years. The first part of my challenge was to find out why. I have spent the last 3 months speaking with stakeholders from the London ED’s, Greater London Authority and Violence Reduction Programme which has provided invaluable insight. There is some brilliant work already taking place, but there is still a multitude of challenges.

In collaboration with the Violence Reduction Programme, Violence Reduction Academy, Greater London Authority, Community Safety Partnerships and ED colleagues, it is thought that London can achieve a significant improvement in ISTV, delivering actionable data for London, with minimum submissions of 1% total ED attendances and 70% geocodable location data.

I look forward to continuing collaboration across the system to create a safer London, and would like to take this opportunity to invite anyone involved in ISTV, or interested in getting involved to get in touch with me @victoria.golden@nhs.net