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People with challenging behaviour are commonly referred to the National Health Service for assistance and support. Good clinical practice would indicate that such interventions should be routinely monitored and evaluated in order to be maximally effective. Challenging behaviour has many impacts and, while monitoring frequency, duration and severity of behaviour is fundamental, equally key is attention to monitoring the impacts on the quality of life of the individual and those with whom they share their environments. Such outcomes are unlikely to be represented by one instrument, and a battery of measures currently holds most promise in relation to representation of what would be considered valid acceptable outcomes.

Much of the research related to experiences of violence at work in intellectual disability services has focused on paid carers, with very little exploring the experiences of staff in community intellectual disability teams (CIDT). This study aims to address this issue.

This study began with a brief survey sent to staff across six CIDTs in South East England. These experiences were further explored with in‐depth interviews with a sub‐sample of the respondents.

The results of the survey indicated that 34 per cent of the respondents (n=105) had experienced some form of verbal or physical aggression at work during the previous six months. Emerging themes focused on the types of risks faced by this staff group; factors that helped with risk assessment and management (and why these things do not always happen); and how workers develop the skills in managing these risks.

Implications are discussed in terms of gaps in current formal training and the role of more informal learning processes in addressing the specific needs of staff working with this client group.