Section two The fifth year
the new system to record incidents of restraint.
A full thematic review on the use of restraint
in children and young people’s establishments
will be published in the next reporting year.
Ofsted continued to monitor incidents and
CCTV footage and evaluate data for trends
relating to restraint. Ofsted inspectors attended
briefing sessions on new restraint and
behaviour management for STCs and will be
linked into the HMI Prisons thematic review.
The issue of restraint arose as a general
theme through the joint work of the Care
Inspectorate and the Mental Welfare
Commission on the secure estate for young
people in Scotland. Overall, they found that
additional and consistent guidance and
training was needed to ensure restraint is fully
understood and appropriately applied by all
staff working with this highly vulnerable group.
Immigration
OCC was an interested party in the case
of C and others v Secretary of State for
the Home Department, concerning the
circumstances when force can be used
against children and pregnant women in the
context of immigration removals. This case,
which was settled, resulted in clarification
of Home Office policy that force can only
be used against children and pregnant
women during immigration removals when
this is necessary for the prevention of harm
towards themselves or others.
HMI Prisons once again reported its concern
that there was still no accredited restraint
training for escort staff on using force in the
confined space of an aircraft. The use of
light-touch compulsion by staff during some
stages of removal was disproportionate.
Written justification in each case for the
use of restraints was not always provided,
and in fact handcuffing was routinely used
during escorts to some centres and for some
outside appointments (such as hospitals or
foreign embassies).
Restraints on the dying
Inspections by HMI Prisons during the
year uncovered two cases where use of
restraint gave cause for concern.
An 84-year-old Canadian who suffered from
dementia was detained at Harmondsworth.
Despite the recommendation of a doctor at
the centre that he be released immediately,
he was taken to hospital in handcuffs on
two occasions. During the second visit in
early 2013, his heart stopped.
In another case at Harmondsworth in
November 2012, a detainee who was
dying continued to be handcuffed while
he was sedated and undergoing an
angioplasty in hospital, although the
handcuffs were removed before he died.
The Home Office’s professional standards
unit has completed a critical investigation
into this case.
HMI Prisons considered the use of
handcuffs in both of these cases to be
excessive, and recommended that restraint
should only be applied if a risk assessment
indicated a specific risk of escape or safety
to the public or staff.
http://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/
hmiprisons/inspections/report-on-anunannounced-inspection-of-harmondsworthimmigration-removal-centre-5-16-august2013-by-hm-chief-inspector-of-prisons/#.
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