Trust given warning notice over rapid tranquillisation

A mental health trust has been served with a warning notice ordering improvements in its processes around rapid tranquillisation of patients.

The Care Quality Commission said the trust needed to ensure all staff at Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust followed local and national recommendations to monitor and record a patient’s physical health when rapid tranquillisation was administered. Inspectors were concerned staff were not always aware of the potential impact of these medications.

Serena Coleman, CQC deputy director of operations in the south, said: “We found some staff weren’t always using the least restrictive options to make sure that people’s behaviour wasn’t controlled by an excessive use of medicines.

“As required medication, such as lorazepam and promethazine, was being used quite frequently but we couldn’t always find records to explain why these medications were necessary. There were examples where reviews hadn’t happened for long periods, meaning staff couldn’t be sure it was still appropriate to administer to people."

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Source: HSJ, 3 August 2023