In one sentence
Rates of restrictive interventions — physical restraint, seclusion, segregation, and forced medication — involving women in NHS-funded mental health, learning-disability, and autism services in England rose by about 12% a year from 2017 to 2025, even after a law meant to reduce the use of force.
What the researchers did
Researchers analysed national open data from England’s Mental Health Services Data Set for NHS-funded mental health, learning-disability, and autism services. They tracked annual counts of restrictive interventions involving women from 2017 to 2025 and calculated rates per 1,000 women detained under the Mental Health Act. Statistical models examined overall trends, age groups, intervention types, and whether the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 (“Seni’s Law”) changed the trajectory.
What they found
- Overall rates for women rose by roughly 12% per year across the study period.
- The steepest rises were in chemical restraint (forced medication), seclusion, and segregation. Physical and mechanical restraint stayed relatively stable.
- Rates fell among women under 18 but rose across adult age groups.
- Seni’s Law (2018) was not followed by a clear reduction in rates.
- Broad trends looked similar to those for men, though the mix of interventions — and their likely impact — may still differ by gender.
What this means for families and therapists
- If a daughter or woman you support is in inpatient or intensive mental-health care, ask what the service does to prevent restraint and seclusion and how trauma-informed alternatives are used.
- Clinicians and behaviour specialists can review service data by gender and diagnosis (including autism) and push for monitoring, training, and least-restrictive practice — not only paperwork.
- Seni’s Law requires recording and reporting of force; this study suggests reporting rules alone do not cut rates without culture and practice change.
Limitations and what we don't know yet
- Data were aggregated, so individual reasons for interventions could not be studied.
- Recording quality may vary by service and year.
- Results cover NHS-funded services in England only.
- The analysis cannot separate “more interventions per person” from “more people experiencing interventions.”
- Lived experience and longer-term outcomes for the women involved were not measured.
This is a plain-language summary of A longitudinal analysis of the prevalence of restrictive interventions involving women with mental health conditions, learning disabilities or autism in mental health services in England by Fradley K., Haines-Delmont A., Frontiers in Psychiatry (2026). Source license: CC-BY-4.0. It is not medical advice — talk to a qualified clinician before changing therapy.