Incidents of physically restraining mentally ill patients up 57% in last 10 years

There were 7,420 episodes of restrictive practices reported in 2017 and 7,464 in 2018.

Incidents of physically restraining mentally ill patients and locking them up alone in a room have increased in practice by 57% at mental health facilities over the last 10 years.

Mentally ill patients were physically restrained for 639 hours last year, according to a new report by the Mental Health Commission.