Care home installs CCTV to give residents 'extra element of safety'

A care home in Sunderland has installed surveillance cameras in both the communal areas and residents’ bedrooms in a bid to be more transparent and ‘regain the confidence of the public’.

Glenholme House in Sunderland has recently been refurbished and as part of the revamp, Wellburn Care Homes took the decision to install CCTV.

Rachel Beckett, executive chairman, said: “We feel as a company that care homes have had negative press over the last few years and with the introduction of the Duty of Candour we feel this is a positive move, to show transparency within the industry and to regain confidence of the public. We feel this will show potential new residents and their families that they have that extra element of safety.”

Wellburn carried out a thorough consultation process asking staff, residents and their relatives what they thought of the idea. The results were unanimous with everyone giving their consent, according to Wellburn.

Ms Beckett says: “The benefits were clear to us from the get go, but post installation, the effects have superseded even our most optimistic hopes.”

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.

The UK has one of the largest networks of surveillance cameras in the world, with up to 5.9m CCTV cameras, including 750,000 in sensitive locations such as schools, hospitals and care homes.

Advocates for CCTV cameras in care homes, point to the high-profile abuse cases that have been exposed by BBC Panorama, using hidden cameras in care homes, such as at Winterbourne View.

However opponents of the idea claim it is an infringement of people’s human rights and question who is going to monitor all the footage. They also claim that abusers will find a hidden place such as in bathrooms to carry out abuse if they are determined enough.

Ms Beckett of Wellburn supports a campaign to make it mandatory for all care homes to have surveillance cameras, saying “at some point we feel it is perhaps inevitable”.

Glenholme House now has CCTV everywhere apart from the bathrooms and en-suites in the residents’ bedrooms and is planning to roll the concept out across the Wellburn care home group.

Residents can have it switched off at any time and only designated members of staff, the care home manager, deputy manager and operations director, have access to the footage. Team Leaders have a certain level of access on an evening for when they are doing their room checks, but they are only able to watch the cameras and cannot edit or delete any footage. All access is security protected.

Safeguarding in terms of abuse wasn’t the only motivation behind the installation of CCTV.

Ms Beckett said: “From our own perspective, the fundamental reasons behind our decision to install was more than us just saying we have nothing to hide. That in itself wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to make sure our system not only offered improved safeguarding measures, but real tangible benefits to our residents and staff on a daily basis.”

She added: “Although it’s too early to draw conclusions specific to Glenholme House, all the research has shown us that it also offers real tangible benefits too. For example, it can improve residents sleep patterns, due to the reduction of previously necessary night checks, with staff now able to monitor through the system, rather than waking residents.

“It’s also proven that better sleeping patterns result in residents feeling more alert during the day, which in turn leads to a reduction in the risk of falls, and encourages better eating habits. Which when all combined, studies show that this leads to the significantly improved general health and wellbeing of residents.”

In addition “feedback from residents and their families has been extremely positive, reporting that the system provides a much welcomed extra layer of comfort to them. Which in turn has made them feel even more safe and secure.”

Staff at Glenholme House have also found it beneficial as the system doesn’t replace care, but “rather offers staff members real time assistance and support. It offers faster response time to any incidents, and helps staff check to establish exactly how they might have happened, allowing if needed, any preventative measure being put in place”.

Wellburn’s hope is that more care homes follow its lead, saying it is “for the benefit of all”.

click here for more details or to contact Glenholme House