A HEALTH trust has been found to have used a controversial 'face down' restraint against mental health patients and people with learning disabilities.

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The technique was dished out by Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust 47 times in a six month period last year.

Government inspectors have now raised concerns over the use of 'prone restraint' within acute mental health wards in the county in a damning report published today.

And leading UK mental health charity MIND described an over-reliance on the move as 'shameful'.

The experts, from Department of Health watchdog the Care Quality Commission, reported they had found 'evidence of prone restraint' when they carried out an unannounced inspection of services provided by the trust in December.

The report goes on to outline that face down restraints used against people with learning disabilities were deployed 12 times between May and October last year.

It was also used 35 times during the same period against adults in acute mental health units run by CPFT - of which there is one, the Ramsey Unit, in Barrow.

Geoff Heyes, policy & campaigns manager for MIND - which has called for a complaint ban on prone restraint - condemned its continued use within the NHS.

"Physical restraint can be humiliating, terrifying, dangerous and even life-threatening and Mind has been campaigning for a reduction in how much it is used. 

"Prone restraint, when a person is pinned face-down on the floor, can be particularly dangerous. 

"Our research in 2013 showed that some trusts had a shameful over-reliance on physical restraint and used face-down physical restraint too readily in their response to managing a crisis situation. 

"Often there are problems and practices on wards that lead to restraint, including provocation, poor communication, a lack of understanding by staff, as well as avoidable escalation of difficult situations. 

"Every trust in England should now be implementing new policies and retraining their staff in alternative techniques so that restraint is only ever used as a last resort."

Some NHS trusts have already banned the move which is reported to cause distress and trauma to the patient.

Yesterday, Dr Sara Munro, CPFT deputy chief executive and director of quality and nursing said the organisation was committed to reducing incidents of restraint.

"Physical intervention is only ever used as a last resort in order to protect the individual involved, as well as other patients and our staff. 

"Our staff are trained in the appropriate techniques when using restraint and as a trust we are committed to minimising its use and have taken part in a pilot on Dova Ward in Barrow to reduce the use of physical restraint which we now plan to roll out across the trust."