Do remote monitoring systems compromise patients' rights?

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By Emma Wilkinson

Infrared cameras used on mental health wards allow medical staff to track vital signs and sleep patterns from a distance, but there are concerns about consent – and patients’ best interests. Emma Wilkinson looks at the debate.

A complaint about the use of remote monitoring in an NHS mental health trust creating additional anxiety for an unwell patient has been partially upheld by the health ombudsman due to lack of consent. This decision comes at a time when roughly half of trusts providing psychiatric care are thought to use remote monitoring tools.