Chair of the Mental Health Commission John Saunders has expressed serious concern over the increased use of seclusion and physical restraint of psychiatric patients.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Saunders said that the use of techniques including physical restraint and locking people away on their own for prolonged periods are on the rise.
The issue is one finding in the latest report from the Mental Health Commission, which oversees standards of care and the interests of people who are involuntarily detained because of a mental illness in 64 approved centres across the country.
Mr Saunders said that more than 5,000 such episodes were reported in 2016.
He said this was happening "not as actions of last resort but as a normalised pattern of behaviour" in some services.
He added that the use of seclusion and restraint "of themselves" had no therapeutic value.
Mr Saunders said a variety of factors can lead to this besides a culture, including the variety and layout of buildings in use for care.
He said the report showed there have been dramatic improvements in the type of units in use and that people are spending shorter periods of time in them.
