Security guards are being used to restrain dementia patients in hospitals up to three times a week, it has emerged.
The practice was criticised by dementia charities and MPs who said it was “unacceptable” and warned that the use of physical restraint suggested that staff were not adequately trained.
At least 17 hospital trusts, responding to a Freedom of Information request, admitted that they routinely used security staff to deal with vulnerable dementia patients who became distressed on wards.