@ HEALTH SERVICES UNION Hoedomce —— Huntor 8th. Const 5th. East (oe. Murray Mh. Coast Western 3y3, Ph0220 4009 © Ph’ 40550055 Ph 42266539 «Ph 92800300 Phe gozs4059 Ph 65Ez 07S Pr 607 ANB Fax92233100 Fax 40550004 Fax: 42275005 Fax: 62800373 Fax: 69254788 Fax €562%006 Fx: 86874409 Now England Far Nth. Const Western NSW Ph 6796 0400 Ph 6687/5901 Ph 6360 0010 Fa 67669422 Fa 6887 8302 Fax 63600008 NEWSLETTER NUMBER: 298/2004 Dist. to: All S/B Execs. & C’tees and Non S/B Reps SESAHS MW:TD 23rd December 2004 “DRAFT” EMERGENCY PHYSICAL RESTRAINT POLICY SOUTH EASTERN SYDNEY AREA HEALTH SERVICE ‘Dear Member, Please find attached a draft copy of the Emergency Physical Restraint Policy developed by South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service provided to the Union on 20" December 2004, L would appreciate if you could bring the contents of this Newsletter to the attention of Security Officer members at your workplace and request that they provide comments through the Sub Branch to your Organiser by close of business on 21% January 2005 in order for the Union to respond to this Policy. This draft policy must be read in conjunction with the individual site policy and SLA for more information on who can restrain patients. Yours faithfully,STAN eA Kerais Seymour. Tom DeLan ‘South Eastem Sydney Area Health Service DRAFT Emergency Physical Restraint Policy and Procedures DEVELOPED- DECEMBER 2004Part One Policy Statement ‘South East Health (SEH) is committed to a consistent and uniform approach when dealing with situations of violence or potential violence in a hospital setting. It is recognised however that sites will require individual policies and Service Level Agreements to allow for nuances peculiar to their individual sites. Overall, SEH considers that emergency physical restraint is an emergency procedure intervention that is reserved for circumstances of high-risk or absolute necessity, in other words, where severe behaviour disturbance is present, The de-escalation of any incident should be the primary focus such that restraint Is only applied 28 a temporary measure whilet efforts to de-escalate are taken. ‘As an intervention, physical restraint carries some risk for both the client and staff and the need for restraint should be considered in the context of assessed risk and legal parameters which undespin the lawful use of restraint in a health care setting. The legal right of the individual not to be restrained against his or her willis to be respected. Physical restraint should only be used as a measure of last resort and is applied only: ‘* To permit administration of life-saving treatment or care which otherwise could not be administered; or ‘+ To protect patients or cllents from seif injury when no other means of protection is practical; ot ‘To deal with an imminent risk of violence, or actual violence when there is no other means of adequately managing that occurrence; oF * To facilitate administration of essential treatment to patients admitted under involuntary provisions of the Mental Health Act, 1990. Other than in the case of a life-threatening medical emergency, a person cannot be physically restrained or detained for the purposes of treatment if the person who is legally entitled to give consent for that treatment has withheld or withdrawn that consent. The person responsible for the giving of consent must be identified by the treating health professionals. Purpose ‘The purpose of this document is to ensure safe, effective and efficient procedures exist across ‘SEH to assist in managing acute behavioural disturbances and security events within Emergency departments. Another primary objective is to safeguard the well being of patients and staff when an incident ‘requires the use of physical intervention. DEVELOPED - DECEMBER 2004