The Patient Safety Collaborative (PSC), Mental Health Safety Improvement Programme (MHSIP) is a national patient safety programme commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement. It aims to improve safety by reducing harm caused to people using mental health, learning disabilities and autism inpatient services by 2024, working in collaboration with the Advancing Quality Alliance (Aqua) on this project across Greater Manchester.

Restrictive practice refers to any act which involves restricting a person such as physical restraint, the use of rapid tranquillisation, or the use of a seclusion room. Restrictive practices cause both physical and psychological harm to patients and can cause distress to an already vulnerable patient group. Lower levels of restrictive practice can significantly improve the experiences of both patients and staff.

The MHSIP involved rolling out a tried and tested change package for reducing restrictive practice (RRP), based on a pilot undertaken by the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, to bring about systematic and sustainable improvement in patient safety by utilising quality improvement approaches and methodology.

This programme brought together teams from different Mental Health Trusts, other providers and partners, across a range of specialties and roles whom all had in common enthusiasm, motivation, and capability to drive patient safety improvements in their organisation for the benefit of their patients and staff.

Along with a great range of resources, we have a dedicated webpage with all the information needed for those practicing restrictive practice in their areas. Blogs from Stuart Kaill, Programme Development Lead at HInM, and Paul Greenwood, Programme Manager at Aqua, and a vivid infographic showing the abundance of data collected over the programme’s breadth of work that can be found below.