Scenarios involving Physical and/or Chemical Restraint

To help providers understand issues and their responsibilities around minimising the use of physical and/or chemical restraint, the Commission has released the following: Scenarios involving physical and/or chemical restraint.

The scenarios consist of a range of case examples to help providers understand issues around the use of physical and chemical restraint. All the scenarios are intended to be illustrative only, and are not to be relied upon as authority. Providers should be mindful of their obligations under the Quality of Care Principles 2014, and pay careful attention to the legislative requirements to minimise the use of restraint when applying those obligations to real-life situations.

Each scenario deals with specific circumstances of a consumer and explores whether the provider’s response can be defined as a chemical or physical restraint. There is also an explanation of what kind of ongoing assessment and monitoring is required, as well as the need for documentation and the seeking of consent.