Introduction

The Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust collects data about you relating to who you are, where you live, what you do, your family, possibly your friends, your employers, your habits, your problems and diagnoses, the reasons you seek help, your appointments, where you are seen and when you are seen, who by, referrals to and from specialists and other healthcare providers, tests carried out both here and in other places, investigations and scans, treatments and outcomes of treatments, your treatment history, the observations and opinions of other healthcare workers, within and without the NHS as well as comments and aide memoires reasonably made by healthcare professionals in this organisation who are appropriately involved in your health care.

The Trust places the health, safety, security and welfare of its inpatient and outpatient service users, staff and visitors high amongst its priorities and will ensure it maintains safe and secure conditions throughout the organisation. The Trust is using the Oxehealth Digital Care Assistant known as Oxevision in two of the Trusts seclusion rooms.

What is Oxevision?

Oxevision is a fixed installation software platform, using a non intrusive optical sensor (camera and infrared illumination) which is installed in a secure housing unit in each seclusion room. The system aims to improve service user privacy and independence by reducing the need for staff to disturb patients when carrying out observations, particularly when they may be sleeping.

The Oxevision system enables to staff to take contact free vital sign spot checks without entering the room. It also provides staff with real time alerts, warnings and reports, via a central display screen in the nurse’s station to alert staff if there is an incident.

Oxevision is not CCTV, and the optical sensor cannot be used as CCTV as it does not record a constant stream video of the rooms it is installed within, staff cannot use this system to watch you. Clinicians can only gain access to a video image that could identify a patient when taking a spot checks pulse rate and breathing rate observation. This clear un-pixelated video is only available for up to 15 seconds, which is long enough for staff to complete a short safety check. All other recordings are anonymous including movement activity, vital signs measurements and video data used for performance monitoring.

Any images held are only retained for 24hrs and then automatically overwritten.

KMPT have installed Oxevision to:

•  Facilitate improved care for patients within seclusion.
• Enhance service user safety by early detection of physical health deterioration.
• Reducing falls, safeguarding and self harm incidents.
• Reduce intrusiveness of nigh time observations.

What data does Oxehealth Collect?

The Oxehealth system uses an optical sensor which is made up of a camera plus infrared illumination in a secure housing on the wall. This is not CCTV and staff cannot use the system to watch you – the optical sensor provides staff with information without having to show a constant image feed. The Oxehealth system has been designed with service user privacy in mind.
The Oxehealth System allows ward staff to take Vital signs – your breathing and pulse rate only. This must be done manually by a member of staff and can only be done as a spot check and will only be taken when required, in line with your care plan.

Any images are only held for 24 hours before being overwritten.

All other recordings are anonymous, including:

• Movement activity (e.g. service user leaving the room);
• Vital signs measurements (breathing and pulse rate);
• Anonymised video data (blurred images of the room used for performance monitoring).

There are three instances in which staff will be able to use the optical sensor to see into a room:

• To review an alert (by viewing a pixelated image);
• To take vital signs (to confirm the correct patient is present and suitable for observation by viewing a clear image which times out after 10 seconds);
• As part of level 1 and 2 observations to check patient is not in distress.

You have the right to object to our sharing your data in these circumstances but we have an overriding responsibility to do what is in your best interests. Please see below.

We are required by Articles in the General Data Protection Regulations to provide you with the information in the following 9 subsections.