Psychiatric patients again kept in solitary confinement more often and for longer
Despite promises to abolish solitary confinement in mental healthcare by 2020, there were nearly 8,800 confinements, usually in isolation cells, last year. That is an increase of almost 10 percent compared to the year before. The amount of time psychiatric patients spent in isolation also increased, rising by 25 percent, NOS reports based on figures from the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate.
In June 2016, 15 large Dutch mental healthcare institutions signed the Dolhuys Manifesto agreeing to abolish solitary confinement by 2020. The manifesto stated that seclusion is traumatic for patients and increases anxiety and despair. It also acknowledged that solitary confinement conflicts with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Inspectorate did not investigate the cause of the increase but did cite staff shortages as a potential reason. A high turnover in staff means that healthcare workers know patients less well and are more likely to opt for confinement.
Health scientist and psychiatric nurse Yolande Voskes is very concerned with the increase. “We want fewer se seclusions because we know how traumatic it is,” she told NOS. “If you see that people are not doing well, then you should focus on contact. Because this is not normal. When we confine people, we do not provide care. We lock up seriously ill people and harm them in the process.”
The Dutch GGZ, the trade association of mental healthcare institutions, questioned the Inspectorate’s figures. “The definitions of seclusion are not clearly defined and are, therefore, used differently. In addition, the increase can be explained by a greater awareness of registration,” a spokesperson told the broadcaster.
State Secretary Vincent Karremans of Public Health agreed with the GGZ, saying that the figures cannot be properly interpreted. He asked the Inspectorate to “further sharpen the picture” in the coming period. “So that we can really have a good discussion with the field. The aim is to apply less coercion.”
