4(F). To directors of psychiatric hospitals and wards
25 June 2014
English
- Clinicians should ask, “How can I and my team maximise the patient’s autonomy and dignity?” They should ask a wide variety of patients how they would answer, and act on their findings.
- Cage beds (including what the Czech government refers to as ‘net beds’) should be immediately withdrawn from practice.
- Other forms of restraint including strapping, chemical restraints and seclusion should immediately be ended as standard practices. The removal of one form of restraint must never be used to justify the use of an alternative form of coercion.
- An independent psycho-pharmacologist should be commissioned locally to review the drug charts of each inpatient, with the intention of reducing sedative and other side effects of medications.