Children protected against domestic abuse

Date published: 07 December 2009

Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Community Healthcare has appointed Debbie McCormack to help protect children who have been exposed to domestic violence.

Domestic Abuse Nurse Advisor, Ms McCormack, will provide frontline health staff with support, training and supervision on how to safeguard children who have been affected by domestic abuse.

In partnership with the NHS, Police and Rochdale Council, Ms McCormack aims to work with services to reduce the risk to victims and children in high domestic abuse cases.

She said: “This is a brand new role in the borough and I believe that it will have a positive difference to tackling domestic abuse. It’s so important that children are protected when they have witnessed violence in the home, as it can be very distressing and lead to other issues later in life.” 

Ms McCormack was a health visitor for 13 years and has also worked in school health and child protection.