technology
Care Protect also reserves the right to
report misconduct to relevant regulators
in the UK if it feels residents are being
neglected or if its notifications of poor
practice are ignored.
POTENTIAL BARRIERS TO CHANGE
One barrier to CCTV installation may be
the perceived cost to providers; however,
Care Protect works on a leasing model
and covers all installation costs.
“There is no initial cost to the provider
upfront. We pay for the entire installation,
and we pay for all the kit. We operate
on a leasing model and charge $20 per
week per registered bed, plus GST,”
Sterling said.
“We also carry out a commissioning
process. We go to the facility, meet all the
residents and the families, and present
to the residents and staff members, so
everyone is onboard.
“We provide the facilities with screens,
so they can see what we see, and we
also provide them with smartphones and
tablets, so we can contact them whenever
we see a severe event.”
Another potential problem is one of
privacy and abuse of the CCTV footage.
“The footage cannot be exported from
the technology we use,” said Sterling.
“If it’s downloaded onto the server to
be reviewed, it cannot be exported to, say,
a USB. The only way that footage can be
transferred is to an FTP drop site to the
actual facility itself.”
Footage and any data collected are
legally protected and, in the UK at least,
Care Protect cannot be compelled by a
facility to delete footage.
Privacy is often mentioned as a key
concern for those not keen on the idea
of CCTV in aged care facilities, and Care
Protect has taken this on board.
“If a resident is using, for example, a
bedside commode and doesn’t want
to be seen on that, we can redact that
area through a black window that will
always remain there,” Sterling said, and
these windows can be placed anywhere,
and only the facility manager will
know about this blackspot, which does
not affect the motion sensors or fall
protections.
“That was a game changer in the UK,”
he said, as it gave residents some privacy
while ensuring vigilance.
As for staff who may be wary of being
filmed, Care Protect says the technology
is for their safety as well.
Sterling recalls an incident in the UK
where initially the staff in Care Protect
homes wanted to walk off the job over the
introduction of CCTV.
“About four weeks after installation,
there was a malfunction with one of the
bed hoists and a patient was injured and
taken to hospital,” he said.
“The resident actually blamed two staff
members. But we were able to review the
footage and see that the bed hoist was
faulty, so the two staff members were
vindicated.
“And now our staff say, ‘We wouldn’t
work anywhere without cameras now,
because it really does protect us and
residents’.”
However, Dr Bruce Baer Arnold, from
the Faculty of Business, Government and
Law at the University of Canberra, believes
legal problems could arise.
“South Australia still doesn’t have an
information privacy act,” he said. “It has
not recognised a tort [a legal cause of
action allowing compensation] for serious
invasions of privacy. Adoption of CCTV
needs to be undertaken within a coherent
legal framework.
“We have a large literature on the use
of CCTV in schools and prisons … much
of which suggests that some offenders
simply shift the location of the abuse [that
is, they harm the victim out of sight of
the camera; for example, in a hallway or a
bathroom].
“Politicians and bureaucrats in search
of a good news story or headline tend
to think of CCTV and other technology
as a silver bullet without taking a deep
breath and asking whether it will be
effective and whether there is a better
way – for example, training, supervision
and reporting [including best-practice
whistleblowing by colleagues of offenders]
– to deal with particular problems.”
LOOKING FORWARD
Now that the green light has been given to
use the technology here in Australia, Care
Protect can plan for the future.
“Initially, for the first facility up and
running, the team from Belfast will review
Australian footage,” Sterling said.
“However, now that we have a projected
cash flow from a 12-month commitment
from SA Health, we can look at potentially
opening a Care Protect hub in South
Australia and employing healthcare
professionals [who are registered in
Australia] to monitor and review client
footage in Australia.
“They will be background-checked
as standard, and hold relevant licences
in accordance with local laws, to
view CCTV.”
The minister for senior Australians
and aged care, Ken Wyatt, believes this
is a positive step in protecting elder
Australians.
“Covert filming by individuals has
sadly exposed poor quality of care and
malpractice in some aged care settings,”
Wyatt said.
“The community has been asking for
this, and [we are delivering] an initiative
which will result in stronger protections
for our elderly residents, reduced adverse
incidents and improved standards of care.”
Stewart Johnston, whose mother was
abused in the Oakden facility, and who is
now a prominent aged care campaigner,
is also glad these steps are being taken.
He will serve on a steering committee
overseeing the pilot as a consumer
representative.
“This pilot will show a cutting-edge
technology delivering an unparalleled
safeguarding system to residents’ family
and staff with dignity, privacy and choice.
This is no spy camera,” Johnston told
Aged Care Insite.
“This pilot is a significant step forward
not only for South Australia but the nation.
The technology now exists where dignity
and privacy don’t need to be traded
for safety.” ■
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