Victims of domestic violence are being let down by the health service when they seek help, according to the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland.
The organisation said nurses were not being trained in how to deal with such cases and failed to pick up instances of abuse.
The RCN pointed to a lack of data on domestic violence in the UK and quoted US statistics suggesting that more than a third of women attending accident and emergency units were there because of violence from their partners, although only 5 per cent of cases are ever identified.
According to the RCN, at least 8,000 Scottish nurses a year will come into contact with victims of domestic violence and they are ill equipped to respond to their needs. The RCN has launched its own guidelines on the issue and is calling on the NHS to provide training for nurses on how to tackle the problem.
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