One in three elderly people living in nursing homes or homes for the mentally handicapped are drugged to calm them down, often without thought about why they need restraining, according to a new report from the health inspectorate.

Inspectors carried out checks on 86 nursing homes after it emerged seven patients had died between June 2007 and May this year after being tied down.
As well as the use of drugs and a waist restraint known as a Swedish band, the inspectors also found patients whose legs had been tied together, who had been put into arm restraints or were confined to their room.
‘These sort of measures are being used far too readily,’ said spokesman Wouter van der Horst in the AD . ‘Nurses often don’t know what the law says.’ By law, limiting patients’ movement is only allowed as a last resort.
‘Limiting the freedom of movement of people who are mentally handicapped or are suffering from dementia has far more impact than staff often realise,’ nurse Sandra de Wit of Groningen nursing home De Zijlen told the AD.
Of the 28 patients under her care who were restrained at night three years ago, only two are still being tied down. ‘And we are going to come up with something for them as well,’ she said.
According to Trouw, the Netherlands is lagging behind the rest of the west by continuing to use restraints, which have been banned in Switzerland, Denmark and the US. Inspectors want a Dutch ban from 2011.