New Research Confirms Emergency Department Violence Prevention Teams a Success

New Research Confirms Emergency Department Violence Prevention Teams a Success

New research carried out by Cardiff University, University of York and Swansea University – funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) – has evaluated the effectiveness of Wales’s Violence Prevention Teams (VPTs). Findings show that specialist violence prevention programmes operating within hospital emergency departments (EDs) are significantly reducing harm, cutting repeat emergency attendances, lowering costs to the NHS, and improving patient care.

The South Wales VPTs were initially established in University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff in 2019 and Morriston Hospital, Swansea in 2023 through South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner funding and support from the Violence Prevention and Reduction Unit. Violence Prevention Teams consist of specialist nurses and a community-based caseworker working directly within emergency departments.

VPT nurses identify patients attending due to violence, explore their circumstances, provide immediate support, and refer individuals into health, safeguarding, and social care services. This integrated public health approach places nurse-led violence prevention at the heart of emergency care.

Police and Crime Commissioner Emma Wools said:

“I am immensely proud that funding from my office has supported the development and growth of Emergency Department based Violence Prevention Teams.”

“The success evidenced within this evaluation is also testament to the dedication and passion of nurses, caseworkers, the many statutory and third-sector partners who stand alongside them and the health boards that have enthusiastically adopted the approach.”

“These VPTs are an example of partnership working at its very best.”

Crime prevention and violence reduction directly relate to the objectives laid out in Priority 2 in the Commissioner’s Police, Crime and Justice Plan. Violence Prevention Teams are making significant progress towards achieving these objectives.

Key Findings:

The research in the evaluation provides evidence that ED-based violence prevention programmes:

• Reduce repeat unplanned emergency attendances, particularly among women, girls, and patients aged under 31.
• Identify vulnerabilities and safeguarding risks that would likely remain hidden, including criminal and sexual exploitation, modern slavery, and coercive control.
• Ease pressure on emergency departments, preventing repeated crises through early intervention.
• Provide a practical, scalable model with significant implications for NHS services across the UK.

Concluding the evaluation, the research recommends that Violence Prevention Teams should be implemented nationally due to their impact on reducing violence, lowering NHS costs and improving patient care.

Professor Simon Moore, Director of the Violence Research Group at Cardiff University, said:

“My conclusion is that this is a very worthwhile use of resources given the fact that the UK government is keen to reduce violence and particularly for women and girls.

So, my conclusion is these should be implemented in a widespread manner.”

A quasi-experimental effectiveness evaluation of a nurse-led Hospital Violence Intervention Programme in the United Kingdom using linked routine health and administrative data – ScienceDirect