I wonder if I may seek to enlist some aid here.
The Care Quality Commission has spent a year failing to produce 'guidance' on what the US calls 'granny cams' i.e. surveillance cameras installed usually by the relatives of the vulnerable elderly in care homes and the like.
And now, in fact, it has become clear that the 'guidance' is not going to be confined to such cameras in care homes. It will apply to any sort of recording, overt or covert, of any sort of medical 'service provider' - which means that it will extend to e.g. audio recording of pretty much any clinical encounter, too.
The last draft documentation – which fortunately was thrown out at the CQC's board meeting earlier this month - included the suggestion the service providers might introduce
'policies' forbidding recording on the grounds of STAFF privacy.
There is no foundation in UK law for this, and, as I say, the documentation as it stood was not approved. But the CQC executives now have the board's authority to issue revised documentation without seeking further board approval, and that, it seems to me, is potentially a recipe for disaster.
For those with time (and the stamina!) who would like to see the detail, perhaps I may refer you to the text of some of the draft documentation and the links to videos of the relevant meetings etc. in the thread golden was kind enough to link at the beginning of this one, rather than repeat all that here. There is still time to send in criticism via the CQC contact details there given. (They didn't think anything would be published this side of Christmas).
Another and easy route for tweeters is the CQC's own hashtag link here.
https://twitter.com/hashtag/CQCcameras?src=hash
The central point, in my view, is that 'service providers' may indeed make 'policy' which protects
the privacy of 'service users'. Indeed, I have two very vulnerable relatives in care myself, and I wouldn't want to see another relative filming away in a communal area and posting the results on youtube. There is in fact statutory regulation which confers obligations on e.g. a care home owner to protect my relatives' privacy and dignity.
But that does NOT prevent a relative of mine asking me to install, for instance, a motion-sensitive video camera in her own room, for her own protection. Medical staff do NOT have the same privacy and confidentiality rights as patients. And thank goodness for that, or many of those abusive 'carers' caught on video - I'm sure people will have caught sight of some of the footage from several establishments – would still be at large and abusing, rather than in jail where they belong.
Whether by mail to CQC or by discussion in the twittersphere, I am keen for the CQC to realise that their actions are still under very close scrutiny by the public, even if the board have stopped looking at the detail. Anything anyone had a moment to do on this could only help.
