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surveillance system used by dozens of NHS trustsimplicated in multiple deaths

Surveillance system developed by a member of the House of Lords and used by dozens of NHS trusts, but an investigation found that Oxevision has been implicated in multiple deaths.

The campaigning group and alternative news source, Democracy For Sale, has issued a report into the use of this remote survievalance system instead of physical checks by nursing staff, paints a rather sinister picture on Wes Streeting's plans to use so-called 'life sciences' mobile phone apps and more importantly; using technology to replace human interaction and diagnosing of patients.

In this case, the use of a CCTV based surveillance system in order to allow for reduction of clinical personel, and cut costs for Mental Health Trusts and clinics.

When it comes to mental health, this Oxevision system has been shown to have cost lives.

OpenDemocracy reports:

Patient surveillance system Oxevision has been involved in at least four deaths in NHS trusts.

In July 2022, Morgan-Rose Hart, an aspiring vet with a passion for wildlife, died after she was found unresponsive at a mental health unit in Essex. She had just turned 18.

Diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Hart’s mental health had been badly affected by bullying, which had forced her to move school several times. She had previously tried to take her own life and was transferred to the unit, in Harlow, three weeks before her death.

Hart, from Chelmsford in Essex, died on 12 July 2022 after being found unresponsive on her bathroom floor. A prevention of future deaths report issued after her inquest found that critical checks were missed, observation records were falsified and risk assessments were not completed.

An investigation by this newsletter has established her death is one of four involving a hi-tech patient monitoring system called Oxevision which has been rolled out in nearly half of mental health trusts across England.

Oxevision’s system can measure a patient’s pulse rate and breathing without the need for a person to enter the room, or disturb a patient at night, as well as momentarily relaying CCTV footage when required. The hi-tech system can detect a patient’s breathing rate even when they are covered by a duvet.

Spun out from Oxford University’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering in 2012, Oxehealth, the company behind Oxevision founded by Lord Tarassenko, has agreements with 25 NHS mental health trusts, according to its latest accounts, which reported revenues of about £4.7m in the year to 31 December 2023.

You can read the full article by going to Democracy For Sale and signing up for their free newsletters or going to The Observer news article to read it direct.

Source: Democracy For Sale / The Observer

See also:

Streeting Attacks Mental Health And Disability

 

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