What if "Restraint" was not an option?
by Freda Lacey About this time last year the Minister of State for Care and Support, Norman Lamb, wrote about “ Positive and safe: reducing the need for restrictive interventions ” within health care. Mind’s report from the year before on “ physical restraint in crisis ” clearly outlined that the use of restraint was used to varying degrees and “face down” (or “prone” restraint as it’s sometimes called) was still being used despite the knowledge that it can cause serious harm and, in some situations, death. The report made recommendations to the Government that the use of “face down” restraint should never be used in care and treatment settings. The Mental Health Act Code of Practice , (currently being revised in Wales) devotes an entire chapter to “Managing behaviours that challenge,” and it clearly states that the least restrictive option(s) must be explored and restraint used only as a last resort. The use of “restraint” and the “how”, when managing patients in hospit...