There is a major national and international debate about deaths in care. The report of the Hertford Courant in 1998 cited 142 sudden deaths in the US. A recent report published in California reported 12 disturbing deaths in care settings where prone holds were strongly linked (.PDF)
In the UK the BBC documentary 'McIntyre Undercover' reported abuses of physical interventions of a private care home for people with learning disabilities. This documentary helped accelerate the process of a national accreditation developed by the British Institute of Learning Disabilities BILD site.
The death of David 'Rocky' Bennett in a secure NHS psychiatric facility after being restrained for more than 20 minutes with a prone hold, led to an independent enquiry, (.PDF) which recommended a national accreditation scheme and improvements in standards. In addition a '3 minute rule' to be adopted for all prone restraint holds. Incredibly, this final recommendation was not accepted by the government and their advisors.
Prone holds are widely taught in adult psychiatric services. A recent report on violence in acute psychiatric care produced by the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing (now the Nursing and Midwifery Council NMC report), found that 67% of psychiatric nurses had been taught prone holds.
While the debate still rages many individuals believe a total ban of these methods is the only way forward. Recently, the Welsh Assembly has produced advice recommending such a ban in Wales.
So why do we need a charter? The national debate is not just about academics but it also includes service users, service providers and members of the public. We believe that the charter will help influence the debate by allowing people to register there support for higher standards on training and a ban of prone restraint holds.