Force was used to control a Mount Carmel hospital patient who complained he was fed up of watching Labour’s television station, a board set up to investigate the matter has established.

The board, however, found no evidence of assault but established the patient had been injected with medication to be put under control and said there were a number of irregularities in the way this was done.

It recommended that the competent authorities should continue to investigate these irregularities which were related to the administration of a particular medicine.

All necessary steps, including disciplinary action, should be taken, it said.

The patient had allegedly been punched and slightly injured on May 20 and the Mental Health Commissioner set up a board to investigate the incident.

In its report, the board said that although the allegation that the television was on a political station could not be proven, it was likely to be true.

The board recommended that clear guidelines should be established in writing on the use of television in halls, particularly when it came to programmes of a political nature which could lead to arguments between patients or between patients and staff.

Staff should be given basic regular training in emotional intelligence and communication skills for them to be more sensitive to the particular needs of patients.

The board said that although a number of staff were trained in de-escalation techniques, they did not follow their training.

It was important that staff faced with such situations received the necessary training on how to handle these incidents in order to safeguard the health and safety of patients and staff.

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