Cornwall GP surgeries among first in new NHS abuse support plan

A GP’s consulting room is often the first place someone experiencing abuse turns for help. A new NHS programme is being built around that fact, and Cornwall is set to be one of the first areas in the country to see it.

What is Steps to Safety?

“Steps to Safety” is a new NHS programme for victims and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence. It was announced in the Government’s Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy in 2025 and is currently being implemented.

Under the programme, GP surgeries and other healthcare settings will be supported to identify abuse earlier and connect patients with expert support. The aim is for people to get specialist help through the NHS wherever they live.

According to a statement shared by Noah Law, MP for St Austell and Newquay, Cornwall is set to become one of the first areas to benefit from the approach.

The funding

The statement says the programme is backed by a multi-million pound investment over three years. Additional funding has now been announced on top of that, to support implementation and expand specialist support services.

That extra money was announced during the Labour Party Conference, where Yvette Cooper gave a keynote speech backing a “public health” approach to tackling violence against women and girls.

The statement says the investment will expand access to specialist domestic abuse and sexual violence services through GP practices and wider health settings. It will also improve referrals from those services to specialist support.

What Noah Law said

Noah said: “Following Andy Burnham’s visit early on in his Premiership, Cornwall being one of the first to benefit from the NHS “Steps to Safety” programme is yet more good news for Cornwall. Violence against women and girls is a national emergency, and for too long survivors have faced a postcode lottery when seeking help, but it’s shocking quite how prevalent an issue this is in an otherwise relatively low crime area.

“Our Government is taking the right approach by recognising violence against women and girls as a public health issue and ensuring better access to specialist support local people need, through healthcare services they already trust.”

The 2029 target

The Government’s stated ambition is that by 2029, all victims and survivors in England will be able to access appropriate support through their GP and local health services.

📷People sitting in a waiting room, they are all using their mobile phones. Young businesswoman using mobile phone while waiting for job interview with other candidates in the office.