Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Paragraph: 74
We welcome the Government’s announcement that it will bring into force the Mental Health Units...
Recommendation
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.
Paragraph Reference:
74
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
We already give out information every month about how force has been used on people with a learning disability and autistic people. We are working to reduce the amount of force that is used in mental health hospitals. We have made rules which say that services must tell us when they use force. If a service uses force against someone, the person and their family should be involved in understanding why. We are working to improve the care and support of people in mental health hospitals. For example, people who get care away from other people will get support to move to other parts of the hospital. Or they will get support to leave hospital.