Restraining and sedating dementia patients ‘routine’ in hospitals in England, study finds

Patients experiencing raised bedside rails, doors and pathways blocked by furniture and physical interventions

People with dementia are being subjected to restraints and non-consensual sedation while in hospitals in England, according to the first study of its kind.

These restrictive practices were found to be an embedded aspect of routine ward care", according to the analysis, with such examples including dementia patients having their bedside rails raised, doors and pathways blocked by furniture, experiencing verbal commands to sit down or go back to bed, and physical interventions such as non-consensual sedation.