306 INTENSIVE AND CRITICAL CARE NURSING

brought the debate in our own unit about the rationing of the intensive care resource out into the open.

Supporting victims of violence: families Anne Viney Assistant Director, Victim Support

Victim Support grew out of the concern for members of the public and people working in the criminal justice system that the needs of victims interest were not being considered. Until the middle of the 19th century, victims of crime normally prosecuted their own offend- ers. This ensured victims had a pivotal place in the crim- inal justice system. The introduction of police prosecu- tions changed victims’ rights and responsibilities. They were no linger involved in cases unless they were required as witnesses to give evidence. Over time victims became invisible and powerless.

In 1974 a group of professionals working with offend- ers in Bristol established a pilot project to consider the experiences of victims and to provide them with appro- priate support. The project, which became the first Victim Support group, was managed by a committee drawn from a wide range of backgrounds. The police undertook to refer all victims of personal crime in the area to the Victim Support group. These were then con- tacted and, where possible, visited by trained volun- teers. The project found that victims and their families encountered enormous practical and emotional prob lems and needed a great deal of support. The Bristol project encountered people in other areas to set up Victim Support groups. In 1979, 16 schemes joined to set up the National Association of Victims Support Schemes which was registered as a charity. Represen- tatives of the police and probation took up positions on the charity’s national council. The Home Offtce made funding available for a national officer and I then took up this post. A national code of practice was drawn up which Victim Support schemes had to adhere to. This stated that each scheme should have a management committee which would include representatives of the police, a social work agency and a voluntary organisa- tion.

Victim Support decided early on that its central aim should be to help crime victims. It took an early deci- sion not to become involved in the campaigns for stiffer

penalties for offenders. The charity’s national council felt that commenting in their area would compromise its work helping victims and would undermine the organisation’s aim to work on behalf of all victims of crime, whatever their views.

Over the next few years Victim Support developed

rapidly and schemes were set up in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. A survey published in 1982 by the Oxford Centre for Criminological Research confirmed Victim Support’s findings that even so-called ‘lesser crimes’, such as burglary, could produce long-term and often serious effects for many victims and their families. A further report commissioned by the Home Office identified Victim Support as the most appropriate agency to offer help to victims. The Home Offtce study argued that victims of crime needed an outreach service as few would make direct approaches to ask for help. A number of police forces accepted this recommendation and agreed to make automatic referrals to Victim Support of victims who had suffered crimes like burglary and theft, and of victims of serious crime with their consent.

By 1987 Victim Support schemes were between them helping over 0.25 million people each year. Many of them were struggling to keep up this number of refer- rals with so few resources. 90 MPs of all political parties wrote to the Government to put the case for a pro gramme of national funding. That year the Home Office made available &2 million to help pay for staffing and running costs. This figure has continued to rise steadily over the last 7 years, just keeping up with the rapidly increasing referrals of victims of crime.

Today, 20 years after Bristol Victim Support was set up, schemes nationwide provide help to nearly 1 mil- lion people every year. Victim Support volunteers offer information, advice and emotional support to victims of a wide range of crimes, from burglary and theft to assault, rape or the murder of a relative. Schemes offer trained volunteers for victims to talk to in confidence, information on police and court procedures, practical help, including advice on insurance and crime preven- tion, advice on compensation for violent crime, as well as volunteers to accompany people to the police station or to court. Schemes use their links with local statutory and voluntary agencies to help victims with other diffi- culties they face as a result of the crimes they have suf- fered.