A NURSE raised concerns about violence against staff on Lancashire’s mental health wards, and appeared to link the issue with the high use of physical restraint against patients.

The comments from Iain Harbison, who heads up the violence reduction team at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, were revealed in the minutes of a trust meeting obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.

In March, The Lancashire Telegraph revealed the extent to which restraint techniques were used on mental health wards in the Blackburn and Burnley hospitals.

A whistleblower claimed the over-use of restraint techniques had caused more violent incidents.

And the quality and safety sub-committee minutes, taken on November 24, show concerns had been raised at a high level within the trust.

They said: “Iain Harbison presented the reducing restrictive practices report and highlighted the work currently being planned and undertaken around reducing restrictive practices.

“The trust is a higher user of restraint and has an issue of violence towards staff. Part of the review is to investigate what is causing this violence.”

The Lancashire Telegraph understands data for 2013/14 suggested Lancashire Care had almost 2,000 violent incidents against staff – higher than any other mental health trust.

Lancashire Care has previously argued the data is historical and incomplete.

Mr Harbison and his team also wrote to executives in January to raise concerns about the use of the face-down restraint techniques.

The practice was phased out after the letter was sent.

Internal e-mails obtained under FOI, with names redacted, suggest there has been opposition to changes around restraint.

Mr Harbison wrote to a colleague on February 27: “I think the review that we have been conducting re restraint has uncovered a few things and so XXXXXXXXXX are on ‘project work’…which is usually this trusts way of saying ‘suspended... i believe!”

Lancashire Care declined to comment.