NHS security staff at a hospital in London have been trialling
the use of personal video cameras linked to memory stick-based
recorders carried in their clothing.
The personal cameras, if widely adopted, could reduce the
chances of attacks on NHS staff, though their use has already
raised concerns that they could invade the privacy of patients.
Body-worn cameras can be as small as a button on a piece of
clothing, though they were always visible during a trial at The
Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. When linked to MP4 recorders,
about eight hours of medium-resolution filming can be stored on an
8 GB SD card or memory stick. The equipment can also take
photographs.
The trial at the Accident and Emergency department of The Royal
London Hospital may lead to the body-worn cameras being rolled out
to the rest of the trust.
The ethics of using personal video cameras in hospitals has not
been the subject of debate or consultation. Last week nurse
Margaret Haywood was struck off for secretly filming the abuse
of elderly patients at Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton for
BBC's Panorama. She was accused of breaching the confidentiality of
staff.
Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at the
Cambridge University Computer Laboratory, said: "There is still a
debate about whether police officers should have this technology.
If hospital security guards are going to deploy it without even any
discussion of the ethics, that is worrying."
He added that any adoption of the technology would "show lack of
respect for patients' dignity and human rights, a lack of respect
we also see in medical record systems that share sensitive
information without consent".
Former BT futurologist Ian Pearson has warned that the
increasing use of surveillance technologies will lead to a public
backlash.
A spokesman for
The Royal London told Computer Weekly that a trial of the
body-worn camera surveillance systems was carried out over two
shifts and the results were "suitably impressive". He said that the
cameras were not used in patient areas during the trial - but
officials have not ruled out their use where patients are
clustered.
In the pilot, the cameras were worn by the security officers who
provide security in the A&E reception and the "area outside of
the department". The Trust says: "It is hoped they will improve
security and help with prosecutions by providing video footage of
offenders. The cameras will not be used in any patient areas during
the pilot. A review will take place at the end of the pilot to
assess its effectiveness and the possibility of rolling out the
system to other areas of the Trust".
The spokesman emphasised that the cameras were always visible -
there was no covert filming.
Whistleblower nurse struck off for secret filming >>
Body-worn cameras -
examples of use in defence, by police and fire services
>>
Surveillance
camera technologies >>