Posted on: 19 March 2026
Harrow’s community mental health services recently welcomed Jess Asato to Bentley House, as part of her work as the newly appointed Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Adviser to Wes Streeting.
The visit followed due to CNWL’s established work and leadership in responding to domestic abuse and violence against women and girls. Bentley House was identified as a key site to showcase effective partnership working in practice.
The visit, coordinated with partners from the VAWG sector, brought together our staff and representatives from local Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) services, including Cranstoun.
Image one: Jess Asato MP pictured second from right
Informing a national approach
During the visit, Jess Asato MP highlighted the need to address variation in how domestic abuse and sexual violence are responded to across the NHS. She emphasised the importance of understanding impact and outcomes:
“I’m really keen to understand the outcomes you’re measuring… not just in terms of safety, but also wellbeing and the impact on health service use.”
Her visit forms part of a wider programme of engagement to explore how health and social care services can strengthen their response to violence against women and girls.
CNWL’s commitment to tackling domestic abuse
Susan Bray, CNWL Domestic Abuse Lead shared how the organisation is embedding a consistent and proactive response to domestic abuse across all services. Susan said:
“We represent CNWL in all of the boroughs where we provide services, so we sit on Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC) panels.We’re really committed, and we know how important it is.”
Holly Thomas, CNWL Domestic Abuse Prevention Co-ordinator, added:
“We have bimonthly roundtable discussions where we reflect on different domestic abuse-related subjects. We’ve explored topics like language and domestic abuse, and it was really well received.”
A key part of CNWL’s approach is empowering staff across the organisation to take an active role. The Domestic Abuse Prevention Ambassador Network brings together champions from across services. Holly continued:
"We have a network of champions across the organisation who work together to promote better responses to domestic abuse, acknowledging we can’t do this on our own. We have to take a collective approach.”
The network hosts regular forums with external speakers, supporting staff to build confidence and capability.
CNWL has also strengthened awareness through its White Ribbon activities:
“Our White Ribbon programme last year was probably our most successful. It was very dialogue-focused, and people really welcomed the opportunity to reflect on domestic abuse and violence against women and girls. “Because of the complexity and personal impact, people value having space to talk. Taking a dialogical approach has been really important.”
Spotlight on innovation: embedded support in sexual health services
The visit also highlighted innovative approaches to identifying and supporting survivors, including an embedded Independent Domestic and Sexual Violence Advisor (IDSVA) role.
Uloaku Nzeribe, CNWL IDSVA working across Sexual Health clinics in Surrey, described how the model brings specialist support directly into healthcare settings:
“Being embedded within the CNWL is really important. My role is to replicate domestic abuse support within the clinic. Patients may come in for routine healthcare but disclose domestic or sexual abuse. Being able to capture those disclosures and provide immediate support is really important."
Looking ahead
The visit to Bentley House provided an important opportunity to showcase the breadth of work taking place across CNWL, while contributing to a wider national conversation on improving responses to violence against women and girls.
It provided a valuable opportunity to share insight, learning and frontline experience to help shape national policy and commissioning.
