ABSTRACT
Restraining a competent person without consent is unlawful and constitutes a criminal assault; restraining one who lacks capacity to consent requires sound justification. There is evidence that the use of restraints increases in direct proportion to the age of the patient and the level of cognitive impairment. The best alternative to prohibition of restraint is to adopt a high threshold to the use of restraint and develop a policy that ensures reasonable safeguards and appropriate justification for those cases where restraint appears to be the only safe option. All hospitals and nursing homes should have policies regarding restraint. The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 will be used to support an approach regarding whether and when restraint is lawful. The HRA, which came into effect in 2000, made it unlawful for a public authority to act in a way that was incompatible with any of the articles incorporated in the European Convention on Human Rights.
