For some time now I and my colleagues from the MPIN thought it would be a good idea to organise a conference around managing violence and aggression.
When we first thought of the idea, things had started to stir in the world of violence and aggression. The review of the NICE Guideline No 25 was being proposed, along with the outfall from the Winterbourne Review and the government response. It then became almost fate then that the MIND report was published and that NHS England had started to get involved in research and expressed concerns about the reporting of incidents.
The day itself was anxiety provoking, draining, enlightening, humbling and filled me with bags of enthusiasm for the future.
Anxiety provoking due to arranging the conference and, wondering if anybody would turn up.
Draining, due to the sheer amount of time and effort it takes to arrange. This despite the amount of help and support from others
Enlightening, because so much came out of what the speakers said and the way the workshops were received. Also the networking that went on was really good to see.
Humbling for two reasons mainly. The first is that over 100 people turned up from all over the country and they were extremely enthusiastic, encouraging and appeared to get loads out of the day. The second one was the amount of messages that came out of the conference and afterwards. All of them to a person, about how, as a group, we must keep going and to not let the enthusiasm go, that we can do better. It was also great to hear our DMI Steering Group service user member give her thoughts to audience around the debate about face down restraint.
The enthusiasm comes from knowing that there is a large community of professionals out there all committed to a number of goals and how we can achieve them.
The key themes to come out of the conference were:
Blogged by Gary Firkins –
Head DMI Trainer and Violence and Aggression Lead for South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
When we first thought of the idea, things had started to stir in the world of violence and aggression. The review of the NICE Guideline No 25 was being proposed, along with the outfall from the Winterbourne Review and the government response. It then became almost fate then that the MIND report was published and that NHS England had started to get involved in research and expressed concerns about the reporting of incidents.
The day itself was anxiety provoking, draining, enlightening, humbling and filled me with bags of enthusiasm for the future.
Anxiety provoking due to arranging the conference and, wondering if anybody would turn up.
Draining, due to the sheer amount of time and effort it takes to arrange. This despite the amount of help and support from others
Enlightening, because so much came out of what the speakers said and the way the workshops were received. Also the networking that went on was really good to see.
Humbling for two reasons mainly. The first is that over 100 people turned up from all over the country and they were extremely enthusiastic, encouraging and appeared to get loads out of the day. The second one was the amount of messages that came out of the conference and afterwards. All of them to a person, about how, as a group, we must keep going and to not let the enthusiasm go, that we can do better. It was also great to hear our DMI Steering Group service user member give her thoughts to audience around the debate about face down restraint.
The enthusiasm comes from knowing that there is a large community of professionals out there all committed to a number of goals and how we can achieve them.
The key themes to come out of the conference were:
- There needs to be a set of National Minimum Standards for Physical Intervention established
- Greater research needs to be carried out into the effects of physical interventions
- We need greater service user involvement in setting standards
- There needs to be clearer and more consistent reporting and monitoring of incidents and the use of physical intervention
- The conversation about the use of physical interventions and how they are taught needs to continue.
Blogged by Gary Firkins –
Head DMI Trainer and Violence and Aggression Lead for South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust