In the early 1980s the use of control and restraint as a means of managing violence and aggression in mental health settings was introduced into special hospitals following an investigation into the death of a patient at Broadmoor Hospital (Ritchie 1985). Control and restraint was initially developed by the prison service as a way of dealing with incidents of violence, and has since spilled over into the health service with adaptations made to meet the needs of forensic mental health services and referred to as General Services C and R However, after initially being regulated by the prison service, in the late 1980s this ended up opening the door to the teaching of different variations of the original control and restraint. In mental health settings this is now part of mandatory training for all frontline NHS staff. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The use of restraints in mental health inpatient settings continues to generate interest and concern. The use of restraint should be minimized and applied as safely as possible. Paterson et al (1992) comment that the NHS fails to provide consistency in physical intervention. Current guidance and the findings of recent inquiries such as the Blofeld Inquiry (2004) ensure that this topic remains in the spotlight. NICE (2005) defines physical intervention as a practical, skilled intervention used to prevent people from harming themselves or others. The term expert implies that, following training, staff are competent and confident in applying the restraint maneuvers taught, although there is no formal assessment process the term expert should be used very loosely. Current training continues to rely primarily on old control and restraint systems and not on patient safety. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE 2015) estimates that there are currently over 700 trainers in circulation teaching their own version of the historically sanctioned control and restraint training programme. The Department of Health (2005) recommended that a national system of violence reduction training be implemented as a matter of urgency, although this has yet to emerge allowing trainers to continue regardless. Even with the most rigorous prevention plans in place it is not possible to prevent all incidents of violence and, as NICE (2005) explains, predicting violence is not always possible. Therefore staff should be trained to address and manage aggressive and violent behavior when all other primary and secondary measures have failed. Wright (1999) agrees with this conclusion that it should be recognized that physical intervention training is necessary in the absence of any alternative. The reasons why restraint is used vary between staff and patients. Patients see restraint as a punishment and often experience pain during restraint and feel that it is not a last resort. While staff reported that moderation was always used when all other options had failed. Physical intervention can reignite previous traumatic experiences in patients (Bonner et al 2002) and create anger among staff. If staff fail to recognize and manage their feelings, there is a risk that physical intervention may be abused. Guidance on the short-term management of violence in mental health services provided by NICE in 2005 fails to address the.