A National Health Service trust has ended the use of a monitoring system that continuously records videos of mental health patients in their bedrooms amid concerns that it allows trauma to resurface in sexually abused women.
Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust (C&I) discontinued use of the Oxevision system after patients and staff realized it undermined care for victims of sexual assault and abuse.
Campaigners against violence against women called on the 22 other NHS trusts that use Oxevision in some psychiatric wards to stop using it or review its purpose in monitoring patients’ vital signs.
C&I used the system at the Rosewood unit, based at St Pancras Hospital, which treats the trust’s most vulnerable psychiatric patientsincluding survivors of sexual assault and child abuse.
The trust has discontinued the use of Oxevision, which allows staff monitor the pulse and respiratory rate of a patient through an optical sensorin november after patients complained that they were being covertly monitored.
As part of an internal review of whether to resume use of the system, C&I’s women’s strategy group argued that it compromised the trust’s commitment to providing trauma-informed care.
The group, which includes staff and patients, said: “Women in inpatient mental health services are disproportionately affected by adverse childhood events, including sexual abuse and adult experiences of sexual assault and abuse. domestic.
“Oxevision concerns related to privacy and dignity and restrictive practice are linked to these experiences.”
Lily, who previously told The Guardian how was very distraught after discovering that Oxevision was recording her at the Rosewood unit, celebrated the decision of the trust. She said: “The system intrusion felt abusive, was demeaning and left me feeling less than human.
“There is no place in a trauma-informed environment for a system like this, a system that films a patient’s bed day and night without their knowledge.”
Both the Coalition to End Violence Against Women and the Rape Crisis have called on the NHS to review the use of Oxevision.
Andrea Simon, director of EVAW, said: “24-hour surveillance of survivors is hugely and unnecessarily intrusive and it is not surprising that survivors say this re-traumatizes them. It is an unthinkable response to those who have experienced a violation of their autonomy and individual control. The support that rape and sexual assault survivors receive should work to counter this power dynamic, not reinforce it.”
Dr Angela Sweeney, Trauma Informed Care Expert at King’s College Londonit urged the NHS to “immediately suspend the use of Oxevision in all mental health trusts”.
He added: “We know that people who have experienced sexual abuse, assault and coercive control may also have been subjected to the use of cameras, photographic equipment and other recording devices. Reproducing this in mental health wards contravenes everything we know about creating safety. Instead of keeping people safe, the use of Oxevision is likely to create fear.”
Jayne Butler, chief executive of Rape Crisis, added: “We encourage the NHS and individual trusts to consider how to improve their practice and to learn from the decision made at the Camden and Islington NHS foundation trust, this should certainly include review. [the] decision to test this scheme.”
A C&I spokesperson said: “The trust has discontinued the Oxevision pilot following concerns from some users of the service. Although Oxehealth offered to make changes to the system, we made the decision to end the trial because we felt some users of the service would still be uncomfortable.”
A spokesman for oxhealth, which created Oxevision, said it was constantly looking for ways to improve the service. He added: “Patients cared for by Oxevision staff report a greater sense of security, fewer sleep disturbances and a greater sense of privacy.”
