Bridgend Council has drafted a new policy to address behaviour control and physical restraint in social care settings (pdf).
Recent inspections required a review of several policies, “one of which being….the development of a policy toward behaviour management and the use of control and restraint.”
The use of restrictive practices is sometimes unavoidable in social care settings. Certain conditions like dementia and autism can cause people to act aggressively or disruptively through no fault of their own.
The new policy will cover all regulated care services provided by Bridgend Council.
The policy includes the following:
- Staff are to always use the “least restrictive possible” method of behaviour control and are to only use “restrictive practices” as a last resort in “serious, significant or dangerous” situations.
- Whoever is in control of an incident will use their judgement as to what may be deemed “serious or significant”.
- Any physical intervention “must be justifiable, appropriate, reasonable and proportionate” and only applied for the minimum possible duration.
- Staff must never use restraint that involves putting an individual on the floor.
- Managers will need to organise a debrief for staff following every incident involving concerning behaviour and all uses of restrain will need to be recorded.
- There’s a list of requirements to be undertaken after the use of restraints including medical checks, regular monitoring and informing the relevant persons/organisations (including family or carers).
The forms of restraint and restrictive practices covered by the policy include physical restraint, medication/sedation, keeping a person in a particular area, mechanical restraints like cuffs (which BCBC social services are not allowed to use) and long-term segregation.
