Recommendations

Press, 10 February 1983, Page 13

Recommendations

PA Wellington The main recommendations of the committee of inquiry into procedures at Oakley Hospital, released yesterday, were: • Admission procedures, including mental and physical examinations of patients, should be reviewed to ensure a better basis for diagnosis and treatment. • The frequency of drug use should be more clearly defined and the form of “blanket” prescribing used at Oakley should cease. More specific directions should be given to nursing staff. • In no circumstances should a patient be placed in seclusion without explanations given. Under no circumstances should patients be placed in seclusion automatically. • The use of frequent and high doses of antipsychotic drugs should always be associated with medical monitoring at frequent intervals. The drug, paraldehyde, should

only be used as a last resort and dosages of more than lOOmg of haloperidol should be avoided where possible. • Tighter procedures should be followed in the use of E.C.T. and care after E.C.T. should be tightened. • A specialist anaesthetist or bis delegate should be present whenever E.C.T. is given. • Guidelines should be provided on the nursing care of patients in seclusion or nursed in a closed room. • More appropriate and up-to-date methods of defusing potentially dangerous situations, handling confrontation and aggression should be taught to all staff. • Standard procedures should be put in place for investigating alleged incidents of ill-treatment or injury to, or death of, patients. • There should be mandatory and specific procedures for -protecting both patients and staff which allow for the investigation of allegations of ill-treatment.