// BBC HEALTH NEWS — SALUTE
Ten NHS trusts referred over monitoring consent
Oxevision uses infrared sensors and cameras to monitor patients while they are in their bedrooms
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.
Gareth Harry from NHS England told the inquiry their oversight was not 'ineffective'
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".