Essex NHS Trust Took Up to 72 Hours to Switch Off Bedroom Monitoring Cameras, Inquiry Hears
A public inquiry into mental health deaths in Essex has heard that patients who asked for in-room monitoring cameras to be switched off sometimes waited up to three days for an answer.
The cameras, part of a system called Oxevision, switched on automatically whenever patients were admitted to certain wards operated by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust. Turning the system off required sign-off from a multidisciplinary clinical team, a process the inquiry heard could take as long as 72 hours. The trust has since conceded its handling of consent was flawed, replacing the automatic setup with an opt-in policy in August 2026.
Zephan Trent holds the title of executive director of strategy, transformation and digital at the trust. He told the hearing: “Consent to use of the Oxevision system should not have been implied at admission, and should have been explicit informed consent.”
The inquiry, led by Baroness Lampard and sitting this week at Chelmsford’s Civic Centre, is investigating more than 2,000 deaths of patients admitted to Essex mental health units across a 24-year period ending in 2023.
How the technology works
Oxevision relies on infrared cameras installed in bedrooms to track pulse and breathing rates and capture images, without recording audio; staff review the feed remotely via tablets and computers. Its manufacturer, LIO Health, told the inquiry the system is now in use across roughly half of England’s NHS mental health inpatient units, and is meant to support — not substitute for — in-person checks and ward staffing.
Yet NHS England identified 57 cases nationwide where staff relied on the system’s 15-second video clips instead of physically checking on patients, something LIO Health said ran counter to its own guidance. The inquiry also heard that NHS England had flagged safety concerns about the technology to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency as far back as 2021, questioning both how it was being used and what it could actually do. Dr Robert Read of the MHRA said the manufacturer’s claim that Oxevision cut self-harm was withdrawn after it failed to produce supporting clinical evidence. Separately, flawed pulse-rate data tied to the system reportedly reached the British Standards Institution during 2023.
Laura Cozens, LIO Health’s head of patient safety, agreed further research was needed but argued it should happen while the cameras remain in use, so patients are not deprived of any benefit in the meantime. EPUT pointed to trial data showing 75% of patients felt the cameras made them safer and 70% said their wellbeing had improved, and said the technology — which cost £4.3m to install, license and run between 2020 and 2025 — had allowed staff to intervene in incidents and save lives.
NHS England maintains that responsibility for how the system is deployed lies with individual trusts. Families and other “core participants” are due to give evidence on possible interim safeguards at a virtual hearing on Tuesday, after which Baroness Lampard will decide whether immediate measures are needed to protect patients currently in care.
Source: BBC News