The Care Worker Agency acknowledges its responsibility in keeping their customers safe from harm and ensuring their safety while respecting the customer’s right to make their own choices and take risks. Issues around restraint are mired in complexities and there is no simple solution to resolve the difficulties in people’s rights to make choices and take risks while ensuring their safety and well-being.  It is impossible to remove risks and any process or policy that attempts to do so may diminish the quality of people’s lives in our opinion.

Policy

The Care Worker Agency will aim to avoid restraining customers but recognises that it is vital that all staff of The Care Worker Agency understand what restraint is and when it is acceptable and helpful and when it is not acceptable. Because of this stance, restraint which may be deemed ‘unlawful’ will not form part of any care plan written to reflect the customer’s requirements/needs.

The registered manager must avoid the use of restraint of any kind on a customer of The Care Worker Agency, and we will not collude with a member of the customer’s family/care team etc to implement unlawful restraint in any form. Any member of staff who witnesses unlawful restraint or has any concerns about a customer’s welfare should immediately report this to the registered manager. They will then inform the relevant regulatory bodies or the police if the customer’s immediate welfare is of concern.  If in an emergency situation a customer had to be restrained as a last resort to prevent them from harming themselves or others, then a full report must be made to the manager. This must be recorded in the customers care plan and also in the incident and accident book.  

Procedure

In the event of restraint being used in an emergency situation a full review of the customer’s care package must be completed by the registered manager. A new risk assessment must be completed to identify if there are any changes to the customer’s circumstances/health status

requiring a change in the care plan being undertaken and to ensure The Care Worker Agency is still best suited to deliver the care.If it was deemed necessary to implement restraint procedures for a customer in an attempt to keep them safe then The Care Worker Agency would reappraise the situation and consider whether they were best served to continue to deliver the care.

Physical restraint should be applied as an act of care and control with the intention of re-establishing verbal control as soon as possible and, at the same time, allowing the customer to regain self-control. It should never take a form which could be seen as punishment. Staff are only authorised to use reasonable force in applying physical restraint, although there is no absolute definition of this. What constitutes reasonable force depends upon the particular situation and the customer to whom it is being applied. However, as a general rule, only the force necessary to stop or prevent danger should be used, in accordance with the guidelines below.

In all circumstances, alternative methods should be used as appropriate with physical intervention or restraint, a last resort.

When physical restraint becomes necessary:

DO

Tell the customer what you are doing and why

Use the minimum force necessary

Involve another member of staff if possible

Tell the customer what s/he must do for you to remove the restraint (this may need frequent

repetition)

Use simple and clear language

Hold limbs above a major joint if possible e.g. above the elbow

Relax your restraint in response to the customer’s compliance

DON’T

Act in temper (involve another staff member if you fear loss of control)

Involve yourself in a prolonged verbal exchange with the pupil

Involve other customer in the restraint

Touch or hold the customer in a way that could be viewed as sexually inappropriate conduct

Twist or force limbs back against a joint

Bend fingers or pull hair

Hold the pupil in a way which will restrict blood flow or breathing e.g. around the neck

Slap, punch, kick or trip up the customer

Use physical restraint or intervention as a punishment

The headteacher should be informed of any incident as soon as possible. The incident will be recorded in the incident book.

REFERENCES;

The Use of Force to Control or Restrain Pupils 2007 DSCF

Care and Control Guidelines 2006 ER CFAS

Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education 2007

School Behaviour Policy

School Child Protection Policy

School Safe Working Policy

School SEND policy