carehome.co.uk director interviewed on BBC's The One Show about surveillance cameras in care homes

Davina Ludlow, director of carehome.co.uk - the leading online guide to care homes, appeared on The One Show giving her views on the use of surveillance cameras in care homes.

The programme on BBC One, looked at Bramley Court care home in Yardley, Birmingham, which has been trialling surveillance cameras in the residents’ bedrooms with the consent of the residents and their families.

The home claims that despite initial concerns by residents and staff, the surveillance cameras have led to improved standards, adding that footage had been used in the training of staff.

Davina Ludlow, gave her opinion on surveillance cameras on The One Show. She is concerned that many care home workers who are on low wages will end up feeling even more disenfranchised and demotivated than they are already and would like to see training prioritised over surveillance cameras.

The whole issue of covert and overt surveillance in care homes came under the media spotlight last year when the CQC (Care Quality Commission) decided to publish guidance on surveillance in care homes for both care home providers and the general public.

The use of CCTV in care homes has long been a topic for debate with some families of abuse victims calling for widespread use, claiming it is the only way to catch abuse or neglect.

However, in a debate on the issue last year at the Community Care Conference: Safeguarding adults in care homes and hospitals, Gary FitzGerald, chief executive of Action on Elder Abuse voiced concerns that “we are getting caught up in a debate about cameras when they are a symptom of the problem not the problem”.

His worry is that “if we had cameras in every single care home, we would have so much footage and who is going to look at it all. I really think it is a red herring and it is deflecting us from the whole issue of quality of care.”

He added: “We do have a clear responsibility to get a clear message out to care providers. Cameras are not the solution. We have to force the Government to invest in social care.”

Davina Ludlow wrote a blog in the Huffington Post with her views on surveillance cameras in care homes. To view her blog go to http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/davina-ludlow/care-home-surveillance_b_6210280.html

click here for more details or to contact carehome.co.uk