Police routinely called to restrain dementia patients

POLICE are routinely being called to restrain dementia patients in care homes because poorly trained staff cannot cope, it emerged last night.

The ‘deeply concerning’ trend is the knock- on effect of a lack of investment in care staff training and the increasing use of agency staff, charities say.

At least one force has sent officers to attend a residential home armed with Tasers and riot gear – but did not have to use them after negotiating with the patient.

Another force was accused of leaving a confused patient covered in bruises and treating him like a ‘common criminal’ after using ‘fast straps’ – unbreakable plastic ties for the wrists and legs usually used on violent criminals.

Chief constables claim they are becoming an ‘extension of the NHS’ and are spending increasing amounts of time responding to problems that were once dealt with by social services and the health service. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that 14 police forces have seen increased numbers of call-outs related to dementia patients, which in some cases involved the use of handcuffs.

The numbers of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards – orders which allow dementia patients to be sedated, restrained or locked in a room for their safety – granted after requests by hospitals and care homes doubled between 2009/10 and 2012/13, figures from the Information Centre for Health and Social Care showed. But, while 6,355 restraint orders were applied for, only 2,979 were granted.

Last night George McNamara, of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘This is deeply concerning. We have noticed that there has been an increase in numbers in terms of the police being called out to address similar situations.

‘This is something that should be concerning to the police, too – they are becoming an additional part of social services and in many cases we believe the involvement of police is unnecessary.’

With four out of five elderly care home residents suffering from some form of dementia, it was ‘absolutely essential’ all staff were properly trained, Mr McNamara added.

‘In effect, what we are experiencing in terms of our social care is a system which hasn’t significantly invested in its workforce for many, many years. Many homes are staffed by agency staff and not always fully equipped to deliver the best quality care.

‘There are different ways of dealing with this sort of behaviour and preventing it in the first place. Training staff and being more understanding about the person, treating them as individuals, means understanding what caused the behaviour. It may be that they are struggling to communicate that they are in pain.’

Bedfordshire Chief Constable Colette Paul said the force was having to recruit volunteer special constables to cover a 14 per cent cut in officer numbers at a time when half of police time was being spent on ‘safeguarding issues’ such as dealing with people who are mentally ill or vulnerable children in care.

She said: ‘Crime is only a tiny part of what we do. Friday afternoon becomes very busy. Other services that are not 24-hour go down over the weekend – the police end up picking up.’

Inspector Michael Brown, of West Midlands Police, said his team was called to a residential home at least once a week to restrain patients, including one occasion when they went equipped with Tasers and riot gear.

Writing in his Mental Health Cop blog, he said ‘earlier intervention’ would prevent police involvement in most cases. He added: ‘What we bring that others do not is batons and handcuffs; Tasers and CS spray – and arguably, that is all.

‘The legal powers we would have available to us are also equally available to others, the human ability to talk is not monopolised by the police.’ He was concerned there were ‘more and more’ incidences of police being called on to use force on passively resistant patients, adding that police were ‘sucked into the vacuum created’ by a lack of properly trained care staff.

Sir Peter Fahy, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said last year the problem had grown so large police were now an ‘extension of social services’.

The equivalent of 400 officers in his force a year are taken away from traditional duties to deal with people who have mental health issues. A significant number of them are dementia patients. ‘We have seen a number of incidents where we feel our officers are called inappropriately to care homes and the wards of hospitals to try to restrain patients,’ Sir Peter said.

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