Watchdog warns restrictive practices should be ‘last resort’ in mental health facilities

The Mental Health Commission (MHC) has said there is no therapeutic benefit to the practices, which were used in 79 per cent of in-patient mental health services and in 5,000 reported episodes in 2016.

The watchdog for mental health services has published a new report on the issue.

Interim chief executive Rosemary Smyth said: “Intervention that compromises a person’s liberty is very serious and should only ever be used as a last resort.

“We know that there is no evidence of a therapeutic benefit associated with the use of restrictive practices and there is also limited evidence of restrictive practices reducing behaviours of violence and aggression.”

She added: “The Commission strongly advocates for the use of de-escalation measures over restrictive practices. For these to be successful it is essential that staff are appropriately trained in de-escalation and in clinical risk management.

“In 2017, the Commission set mandatory training for all healthcare professionals in approved centres to be trained in the prevention and management of violence and aggression. We are hopeful that increased training levels will contribute to the reduction of restrictive practices and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.”