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Management of psychiatric in-patient violence in the Anglia region

Implications for record-keeping, staff training and victim support

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

J. H. Dowson ,
J. Butler  and
O. Williams
J. H. Dowson*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Box 189, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ
J. Butler
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Box 189, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ
O. Williams
Affiliation:
Institute of Public Health, Cambridge
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

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Aims and method

A total of 384 incidents of violence against the person (six ‘serious' and 378 ‘mild’), by adult in-patients in general psychiatric units (GPUs) and learning disability units (LDUs) in 10 National Health Service trusts in the Anglia region, were evaluated by Interviews with staff and examination of records.

Results

The findings, when compared with standards derived from previous recommendations, showed deficiencies in the documentation of incidents (there was no satisfactory written record of physical restraint for 97% of incidents in GPUs and 86% in LDUs), in the training of staff in ‘control and restraint’ procedures (If two or more staff were involved In physical restraint, for 3% of incidents in GPUs and 100% in LDUs, the staff had received no training within the previous 12 months) and in policies for victim support (there was no written policy that included procedures for victim support in relation to 84% of incidents in GPUs and 44% in LDUs).

Clinical implications

Trusts should consider reviewing their policies on the prevention and management of violence, particularly in relation to staff training.

Type
Original Papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 23 , Issue 8: The Journal of Trends in Psychiatric Practice , August 1999 , pp. 486 - 489
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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