Restraint and Other Restrictive Practices: Questions We Need to Ask Ourselves

News around the use the restraint at Wetherby Young Offenders Institute in March 2024 made for uncomfortable reading. An unannounced inspection of the secure facility between November and December 2023 by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons found that a young, vulnerable female inmate twice had her clothes removed under restraint by an all-male team of prison staff.

There were multiple, contextual factors given by the institute, which sought to explain the reasons behind this particular course of action. However, this doesn’t make the details any less harrowing, and, despite some good provision evident in some units, the published report was highly critical of the facility, and its approach to safety and care.

Use of restraint in other settings

Sadly, incidents such as these are not one-offs, nor are they limited to higher-risk, secure settings, such as prisons or young offenders’ institutes (YOIs). We only have to look at other examples, such as the treatment of patients at Whorlton Hall secure hospital and Winterbourne View private hospital, or the tragic case of George Floyd in the USA, to know that the use of restraint and other restrictive practices can have significant, and sometimes lethal, consequences.

While every setting has their own guidelines around the use of restraint, and staff may well be trained in and operating within the parameters of their organisation’s policies and practices, the report about Wetherby Young Offenders Institute is a timely reminder for all of us to reflect on our approach to restraint, and ask ourselves some important questions.

Team Teach’s perspective on the use of restraint

At Team Teach, our stance is clear and unequivocal: restraint and other restrictive practices should only ever be used as a last resort. If professionals judge this to be the only option in order to reduce risk of serious harm and to keep people safe, we should be using the least restrictive intervention, for the shortest amount of time. Any action should be reasonable, proportionate, and necessary, and should be carried out in a manner that preserves individuals’ dignity, respect, and safety.

Building relationships over using restraint

We recognise that, in some settings, restraint may sometimes be necessary. We respect a service’s right to adopt an approach that is effective and fitting for them and those they support, and where, if restraint is necessary, it is always used in a dignified, respectful, and safe manner.

However, we also believe that building strong relationships with those in our care, relationships rooted in mutual trust and respect, can enable us to mitigate the likelihood of escalation, and reduce the need for restraint and other restrictive practices in the first place.

So, as professionals across a range of sectors, including education, health, and social care, what sorts of questions should we be asking ourselves about the use of restraint and other restrictive practices?