Professionals
This page is for professionals working within agencies such as police and social care who may wish to refer visitors to the SARC or familiarise themselves with our services.
For further information please get in touch by calling 0330 223 0099 or emailing us a bridgehouse.sarc@nhs.net (email is monitored from 9am-5pm Monday to Friday).
Our services
We offer both paediatric (0-15) and adult services (16+).
To refer someone to our service, call us on 0330 223 0099 at any time. Our comprehensive range of services includes:
- Immediate over-the-phone rape and sexual assault support and signposting to specialist services
- In-person rape or sexual assault crisis support and healthcare including access to medicine
- Forensic medical examinations
- Holistic examinations and care for non-recent cases
- Collection and storage of forensic samples
- Referrals to specialist counselling and Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVA) support
- Follow-up calls after an appointment
Patients 15 years and younger
Services for children aged 15 years and younger are provided by specialist trained crisis workers and female forensic medical examiners (doctors).
Paediatric forensic medical examination
This video from the Child Sexual Abuse Centre offers a good overview of a forensic medical examination. Please take a look to learn more and contact us if you have any queries.
Before an appointment
A patient may have been asked by Bridgehouse or another professional to not wash their body or drink hot liquids before an appointment. This is to help preserve forensic evidence. The comfort of our patients is most important so if this has happened don’t worry, they can still attend an appointment.
An appointment may last for 2 to 5 hours depending on the care and support needed so visitors may want to wear or bring some comfy clothes to change in to. During the appointment patients will be offered the opportunity to shower following the examination and can also change clothes then.
If you are bringing a patient to the SARC for an appointment, please try to arrive on time. If you think you are going to be early or late please contact us to let the staff know.
Forensic medical examinations
Medical examinations for people aged 16 years and older are conducted by our highly skilled and compassionate female nurses.
Depending on when the incident happened, patients may be offered the option to have a forensic medical examination that includes checking for any physical injuries and collecting forensic samples. If an examination is something they are considering, it is best to contact us as soon as possible.
We offer to collect forensic samples even if a client does not want to involve the police at the time. This gives clients the option to have forensic evidence if they choose to report the incident at a later date. In this instance all samples will be stored at our SARC for 2 years.
During the examination the nurse/doctor and crisis worker will regularly check in with the patient to make sure they are ok and want to continue. Patients are in control and can have a break or stop the examination at any point.
After the examination patients have the option of having a shower at the centre and we provide a care bag which has items such as shampoo and a toothbrush. We also provide clothing to change into if a patient’s clothing has been taken as evidence.
Aftercare
If a patient agrees to additional referral support, it is likely that our nurse/doctor and crisis worker will refer the patient to other services that will be able to offer them additional support following an appointment with us. These services might include (but are not limited to) mental health/counselling, sexual health, GP, or the local Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) service.
After an appointment, professionals and patients can contact us at any time to ask questions or to get further help and support.
With their permission, one of our staff will call the patient 6 weeks after their appointment to check in and make sure they have been contacted by the referral services recommended for them.
Get in contact
with us
Professional
Referrals
All referrals from Police and professionals should be made by telephone:
0330 223 0099
Helpful
Resources
Visit our Resources page to find our leaflet and information on other helpful resources.
