Reducing Restrictive Practices and Managing Challenging Behaviour in the NHS

Working with Challenging Behaviour in the NHS

Doctors, nurses and other NHS staff are now confronted with more frequent and more extreme challenging behaviour. The last two years have seen a 15% rise in violence and aggression directed at hospital staff. However, even low level conflict and uncooperative behaviour takes a toll on staff energy and morale.

Many NHS staff feel ill-equipped to deal with challenging behaviour. They find themselves having to respond to difficult situations, unsure of where they stand and afraid of making the wrong decision.

Reducing Restrictive Practices and Managing Challenging Behaviour in the NHS is designed to help NHS staff with their daily working practice. It equips staff with effective strategies for de-escalating conflict, as well as a solid understanding of how the law applies to their situation.

Meeting the Restraint Reduction Training Standards

There is currently a focus on restraint reduction across the NHS, adult social care and education settings in the UK. Professional bodies and government departments now recognise the importance of reducing restraint wherever possible in therapeutic settings.

Building on the Use of Force Act (2018), NHS England has commissioned the Restraint Reduction Network to develop standards for the training, prevention and use of restrictive interventions. These Standards will be mandatory for all restrictive intervention training that is delivered to NHS-commissioned services (England only) for people with mental health conditions, learning disabilities, autistic people and people living with dementia in England. Implementation begins in April 2020.

The Standards focus on the human rights, restraint reduction, prevention, de-escalation, safe use and recovery. They have been written to apply across health and social care services, as well as education settings.

Before you book a training course on restraint reduction, it’s therefore vital to ensure that the trainer is in full compliance with the new standards.With that in mind, Reducing Restrictive Practices and Managing Challenging Behaviour in the NHS has been designed in accordance with the both the spirit and the substance of the Standards. Please view or download the document attached to see how the course content has been mapped to the Standards.

The Course: Reducing Restrictive Practices and Managing Challenging Behaviour in the NHS

Course Summary

This course helps NHS workers to anticipate, de-escalate and manage problematic service-user behaviour. It uses the Carnegie ABC System, a restorative approach that’s proven successful in the health sector and other environments.

Who should take this course?

This course is suitable for all staff who work within the NHS, including management teams. Examples include those working in hospitals, GP practices, walk-in centres and staff supporting users in their own homes.

Duration and delivery

The course is designed to be delivered within a single day. Trainees will benefit from a mixture of expert-led sessions and interactive tasks in which they will discuss how the principles can be applied to their own care environments.

Course Content

Understanding Behaviour: Trainees will learn about their psychological responses to challenging behaviour, the needs and wants of users, the reasons why behaviour can escalate and how to plan for and manage it.
Communication: Staff will learn how to effectively communicate with service users and realise the impact of body language, tone of voice and facial expressions through an understanding of Betaris Box (Behaviour Cycle).
De-escalation and re-regulation:
1. De-escalation techniques for use in the workplace
2. Environment management and dynamic risk assessing.
3. Forms and language of aggression
4. Re-regulating behaviour using individual plans and ABC charting
Restrictive and Non-restrictive physical intervention: Staff will learn about the law and the use of reasonable force in the workplace.
Restorative Practice: users will learn the skills required to provide a restorative environment within the workplace.

Find Out More

The Carnegie ABC system was developed, tested and refined by head teacher and trainer Nichola Lochery. Initially developed for schools, the system proved remarkably successful in transforming how teachers understood and managed behaviour. However, the ABC Carnegie system can be adapted to many other environments where a duty of care coincides with challenging behaviour. This version of the course has been adapted for NHS staff.

IBA UK’s trainers have a wealth of experience in delivering security, staff safety and behaviour management courses. We have worked successfully with staff from many environments, helping their staff to feel more confident and better equipped to deal with challenging situations.

Bespoke Courses & Dates

You can book any of our courses to be run at a venue of your choosing. Let us know where and when you'd like the course to be run and we'll do our best to accommodate you.

Call us: 01793 855090