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HIN blog showcases our reducing restrictive practices work

Work going on in Goddington Ward at Green Parks House, to reduce restrictive practices within acute psychiatric mental health inpatient settings, has been showcased in a blog by Health Innovation Network (HIN).

Restrictive practices are techniques such as physical restraint, seclusion and rapid tranquilisation used to limit a person’s liberties, movements or freedom to act independently in potentially dangerous situations.

Towards the end of last year, members of the HIN Mental Health Safety Improvement Programme team visited Goddington Ward, to see what was being done.

They wrote reflective blog about the visit, which you can read here.

HIN Patient Safety Project Manager, Ayobola Chike-Michael, said: “We were taken on a tour by ward manager Nokuthula and it was positive to see so much interaction between service users and staff. An important theme was reflection and evaluation – taking time each month for staff to consider and assess their use of restrictive practices in order to reduce them where possible.”

Nokuthula Marks, who has spend eight years as a mental health nurse and more than two as ward manager, added: “Reducing restrictive practice is something that I think everyone involved in delivering mental health care wants to work towards, and it is a real focus for me personally.”