'Inhuman' use of restraint on disabled adults

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Every 15 minutes, on average, a patient with learning disabilities was restrained in hospital last year, new BBC File on 4 analysis shows.

In 2019, restraint was used just over 38,000 times in England. In 2017, there were 22,000 reports of restraint.

The data, provided by NHS Digital and analysed by the BBC, also shows the use of prone restraint - or holding people face down - remains high, despite being against government guidelines.
Last year, it was used more than 4,000 times.

Seclusion - where people are locked in a room on their own - also remains high.
In 2019, there were 3,225 reported cases of seclusion, and 850 of those involved children.
In the first seven months of this year alone, there were more than 2,000 incidents of seclusion.

NHS England says it has "driven an increase in the reporting of restraint" and "lowered the bar".
But not all hospitals and treatment units regularly provide complete data.

The figures come despite pledges to reduce restraint use, which includes seclusion, after a 2018 File on 4 programme first uncovered numbers of reported restraint had risen by 50% between 2016 and 2017.

The government strategy Transforming Care was launched in 2012 following the Winterbourne View scandal. It set a target to reduce the number of inpatients with learning disabilities in England by at least 35% by March 2019.

This target was then moved to March 2020. It wasn't met, and a new target has now been set to move 50% of patients by March 2024.

In 2018, there were 2,400 people with learning disabilities and autism in hospital in England. Latest figures show there are still 2,060

Transforming Care? is on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 10 November at 20:00 BST and will be available to listen to on BBC Sounds.