Scope of the RRN Training Standards
The Standards are applicable to all training that has a restrictive intervention component. The Standards provide a national and international benchmark for training in supporting people who are distressed in education, health and social care settings.
Though not specifically designed for training providers outside these settings, the Standards support the human rights of all populations and may be useful to other sectors including secure transport and the private security industry.
How the Standards were developed
In 2019, the RRN was commissioned by Health Education England to create the Training Standards. The Standards were coproduced with people with lived experience of restraint.
In 2022, an independent evaluation of the Standards was conducted by Manchester Metropolitan University. The findings of the evaluation will help inform version two of the Standards, which are currently being developed and expected in late 2023.
Statutory requirements
Since April 2020, it has been a statutory requirement in England that organisations delivering training on restrictive practices must be certified as meeting the RRN Training Standards.
The Mental Health (Use of Force) Act statutory guidance (2018) states that “[restrictive intervention] training providers must be certified as complying with the RRN Training Standards”.
The NHS (England) Standard Contract requires all providers of mental health and learning disability services to ensure all relevant staff have received training in restrictive practices that is certified by a UKAS accredited certification body, complying with the RRN Training Standards.
Since April 2021, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has expected all services across health and social care to only use training that is certified as complying with the RRN Training Standards. Failure to do so is likely to be a breach of CQC Regulation 18 relating to staff training.