DESPITE a national drive to stamp out prone restraint in the country’s mental-health wards, the practice has risen dramatically in East Lancashire.

An investigation by the Lancashire Telegraph has revealed the controversial technique was used 600 times last year, up from 383 times the year before.

The practice has been described by mental-health charity Mind as humiliating and dangerous.

Meanwhile, a whistleblower has claimed the increase is down to a cultural problem, pointing out the number of cases in some wards is much greater than their counterparts elsewhere in the county.

Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, which provides mental-health care in the district, claims this is not the case.

It says that although the figures are high, it is actively doing something to address the situation.

Certainly the job that healthcare staff do can be very challenging. Sometimes difficult decisions have to be made quickly for everyone’s safety.

But experts for the government said face-down restraint is not the answer.

Lancashire Care has now said it will be ending the practice. That cannot be done too soon.