Nice updates guidelines for dealing with aggressive behaviour

The NICE guidelines (NG10) replace the previous NICE guideline CG25 which was published February 2005. It offers evidence based advice on the short-term management of violence and aggression in mental health, health and community settings. The new recommendations consider principles of managing violence, how to reduce and prevent it. It advises how to handle different types of aggressive people, whether it be family members and carers, individuals with mental health difficulties or children and young people.

Violence and aggression towards frontline hospital staff is estimated to cost the NHS at least £69 million a year in staff absence, loss of productivity and additional security. The number of reported assaults against NHS staff has increased by eight per cent from 63,199 in 2012/13 to 68,683 in 2013/14 with 69 per cent of these occurring in mental health or learning disability settings. The Mental Health Policy Group has reported that poor mental health carries an economic and social cost of £105 billion annually in England and that business loses £26 billion due to mental ill health every year.

Six of England’s leading mental health organisations have joined forces to produced a plan outlining what the government should do to improve the lives of people with mental health problems during the first 100 days of the new Parliament.

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