The oldest commercial training provider in PMVA training in the UK

Organisation background

Tom Starling and Princess Anne The Butler Trust

Ethical Care PMVA is the oldest established company providing conflict resolution and physical intervention training in the UK. Professor Tom Starling ISM founded the system used by the Home Office today in the use of Control and Restraint. In 1988 he was awarded the 'Butler Trust Award' and bursary by HRH Princess Anne for his innovation. Upon retirement in 1988 from the Prison service Professor Starling founded Dignified Control and Restraint Training 'A dignified approach'. In 1996 the company was renamed Ethical Care Control and Restraint (UK) Limited.

In 1996 I was a National Trainer with the Home Office Prison Department and after 11 years in this role took early retirement and took over as Director of Ethical Care we continued to deliver training in all areas of care and areas that nobody else would go, such as fostering and adoption services and community services.

Ethical Care had the first joint NOCN and Anglian Ruskin University accreditation to train the trainer. We worked with the Anglian Ruskin University with the original ENB 958/769 course work which was very much the forerunner of the A74 courses in Train the Trainer, and with Essex University where we presently have 2 Ethical Care Trainers within the school of Health in Occupational Therapy and Mental Health departments delivering Ethical Care PMVA. At present we are working together with the development of online theory-based training both for the University and Ethical Care.

2001 Jenna joined the company and established herself as a first-class trainer and later became Director of training within Ethical Care. She has her security training company and has had NOCN accreditation and maintains centre status with Highfield Qualification delivering SIA training.

Tom Starling with Charles Clarke

In 2006 I was approached by the Home Secretary The RT Hon. Charles Clarke MP to help establish unilateral safe physical intervention training standards across public services.

The Home Secretary was particularly interested in our involvement with advice for the HM Prison department on the death of Kenneth Severin at Belmarsh Prison in 1995 and also advice given to Dr Ian Gibson MP Norwich North for the inquest on the death of David Bennett at the regional secure unit at the Norvic clinic in 1998.

Mr Clarke was somewhat disillusioned at the reluctance shown to him and ourselves that training in conflict management in public services appeared not to be able to agree on what standards should be in place to prevent such further tragedies.

We have always endorsed the BILD concept with policy and framework and voluntarily shared our course content on physical intervention training with BILD via Lincolnshire/Cambridgeshire Social Services to Dr Oliver Russell before the first edition of the BILD policy Framework was released in the late 90s

In 2007 Ethical Care sent a portfolio of evidence to the review panel following an invitation to do so by The Rt Hon. Jack Straw MP to reinforce our health and safety opinions on national standards on physical intervention training in the UK. This in turn helped supply guidance for Dr Di Hart of the National Children's Bureau (NCB) to help in her report in 2008 on restrictive physical interventions in secure children homes.
Tom Starling teaching in Australia

In 2009 Ethical Care advised and shared our course material and practical skill training with the Home Office conflict resolution team. They utilised our shared knowledge to research and develop best practices. This formed part of the recommendation from the government's independent review of restraint for young people.

I have taught our system in all the 4 countries of the UK and various countries abroad using the same guidance and legal framework we have always delivered and insisted on with our ISO accreditations as a benchmark before the establishment of the RRN BILD Association of Certified Training was put in place.

We have always been open and transparent with our training which has enabled others to copy our material for their own use. The problem with this is it leads to misunderstanding and misinterpretation on what we do a why we do things in a specific way. This is not a one size fits all teaching approach.

We have on occasion withdrawn our training services with NHS Trusts and other Organisations because of their reluctance to change, misinterpretation and lack of understanding of the ethos of Ethical Cares methods which have been independently risk assessed and evaluated for safe practice.
ISO9001

Fourteenth years continuous accreditation

Testimonials


Ethical Care Control & Restraint (UK) Ltd has been certified by Bild Association of Certified Training as complying with the Restraint Reduction Network Training Standards 2020 in 2, 3, 4 and 5 day PMVA Level 2 Restraint Including PMVA High-risk course (1 day); 1, 2 day PMVA Level 1 Breakaway; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 day PMVA Level 2 Restraint Refresher for Education & Social care, Services supporting Adults, Services supporting Children, People with mental health conditions, People with learning disabilities, Autistic people, People with acquired brain injury and but not limited to People living with dementia in England, Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland subject to Training Needs Analysis (TNA)

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