Articles

CQC to Release Guidelines on Using Hidden Cameras to Monitor Abusive Carers

17/10/2014

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) will release guidelines on how relatives of care home residents can covertly use cameras to monitor staff suspected of abusing their loved ones.  

The guidelines, which will be released next month, also aim to advise care home managers how to set up CCTVs for staff surveillance.

CQC insisted that CCTV monitoring should only be used as a last option. Andrea Sutcliffe, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Social Care, told The Times that the guidelines will offer pointers on issues that should be considered by relatives and care home managers when setting up hidden CCTV cameras, taking into account respect for the patient’s dignity.

The measure is part of CQC’s “A Fresh Start” initiative that was launched last year.

CQC’s announcement came after several family members used covert CCTV filming to uncover abusive treatment of their loved ones. 

Daniel Baynes was sentenced to jail last June after his abusive treatment of dementia patient Gladys Wright was captured on film by Wright’s son. One month afterwards, another carer, Faderera Grace Bello, was sent to jail when her neglectful and abusive conduct towards 92-year-old Bridget Rees, a care home patient suffering from dementia, was caught on film after the latter’s daughter covertly installed a camera in Rees’ room.  

Care Minister Norman Lamb suggested his support to the use of hidden CCTVs at the instance of relatives of care home residents. But the latest initiative from CQC was lambasted by several critics.

Care home review website Good Care Guide CEO Stephen Burke said in a report in The Guardian that health watchdog’s latest measure smacks of Big Brother-style culture and is indicative of the watchdog’s failure to properly regulate care homes.

Carehome.co.uk director Davina Ludlow also expressed the same opposition. In an article posted on the care home directory’s website, Ludlow said: “We need to train, support and inspire the next generation of carers, not create a big-brother culture where people are afraid to do this vital job.”