Inspectors seek views on restraint

The Commission for Social Care Inspection is seeking professionals’ experiences of the use and observation of restraint in care homes and home care services, including views on whether residential settings should ban the practice.

The survey is part of a study to examine the balance between protecting service users from harm and ensuring their autonomy, and will go beyond physical restraint to consider how people are restricted by environment, the culture of services, electronic surveillance and medication.

The survey asks whether restraint is ever justified and whether it ­constitutes an infringement of human rights.

The study is a response to a recommendation in the health select committee’s 2004 report on elder abuse, which called on CSCI’s predecessor to carry out a inquiry into restraint.

CSCI said it had already been examining the issue through its inspections of services.

Further information
Click to respond to the CSCI 

Contact the author
  Mithran Samuel