Recommendation 10

We welcome the Government’s announcement that it will bring into force the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 in November 2021. This will go some way to reducing the use of restricted practices in inpatient facilities. However, we remain concerned that the use of restrictive practices remains commonplace in many inpatient facilities and therefore still presents a long-term risk to autistic people and people with learning disabilities. We recommend that in addition to the requirement of the Mental Health Units (Use of Force Act) two further reforms are introduced: i) use of restraint on individuals in inpatient facilities is published twice every calendar year; and ii) all providers are required to meet with both families and commissioners within a month of each incidence of restraint, whether chemical or physical, to explain why it happened and what measures are being taken to prevent a reoccurrence.