Ten mental health trusts have been reported to the health regulator after problems with patient consent procedures when monitoring patients using camera technology. The issue emerged during the latest hearings of the Lampard Inquiry, which is examining the deaths of more than 2,000 people who spent time in mental health units in Essex between 2000 and the end of 2023. The infrared technology is used in patients' bedrooms and can monitor breathing and pulse without staff having to enter the room.
NHS England told the inquiry it had passed information to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after reviewing the use of digital monitoring systems, including Oxevision. Baroness Lampard has said she would introduce interim recommendations on the introduction of some technology if she believed there was a "risk to patient safety". The inquiry heard NHS England first became aware of safety concerns linked to Oxevision in 2021.
Giving evidence, Gareth Harry, NHS England's National Delivery Director for Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism, said concerns had been raised about consent, patient observations and human rights. The inquiry was shown an internal NHS England email from 2022 in which one staff member said they had been aware of trusts where patients were "not being given the choice to refuse being filmed". In 2023, NHS England wrote to mental health trusts saying monitoring technology should not be introduced as a blanket approach and decisions should be made for each patient individually.
It said if possible, patients should be involved in those decisions. Harry said NHS England later reviewed practice after concerns were raised by campaign group Stop Oxevision, external. The inquiry heard that review found 10 mental health trusts were "not operating their consent mechanisms in line with the digital principles".
The trusts that have been referred to the regulator have not been named. Harry said NHS England wrote to the CQC on 2 October and shared the findings with inspection teams. What is the Lampard Inquiry and what could it change?
Lampard Inquiry: Five things we've learned so far Lawyers representing bereaved families questioned why it had taken several years for NHS England to act after concerns were first raised. Harry said day-to-day responsibility for following the guidance sat with individual trusts rather than NHS England. Counsel to the inquiry Teniola Onabanjo asked Harry if NHS England recognised that the enthusiasm for innovation might "outpace" the scrutiny of consent and ethics when it comes to camera technology.
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