Is it safe? Is it spying? Disquiet over NHS 'magic eye' camera in mental health units

Campaign calls for investigation into the use of Oxevison amid concerns over care and its effect on patients.

- By Jon Ungoed-Thomas, Lucas Amin and Natasha Ion

In July 2022, Morgan-Rose Hart, an aspiring vet with a passion for wildlife, died after she was found unresponsive at a mental health unit in Essex. She had just turned 18.

Diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Hart's mental health had been badly affected by bullying, which had forced her to move school several times. She had previously tried to take her own life and was transferred to the unit, in Harlow, three weeks before her death.

Hart, from Chelmsford in Essex, died on 12 July 2022 after being found unresponsive on the bathroom floor. A prevention of future deaths report issued after her inquest found that critical checks were missed, observation records were falsified and risk assessments were not completed.

An investigation by the Observer and the newsletter Democracy for Sale has established her death was one of four involving a hi-tech patient monitoring system called Oxevision which has been rolled out in nearly half of mental health trusts across England.

Oxevision's system can measure a patient's pulse rate and breathing without the need for a person to enter the room, or disturb a patient at night, as well as momentarily relaying CCTV footage when required. The hi-tech system can detect a patient's breathing rate even when they are covered by a duvet.

Spun out from Oxford University's Institute of Biomedical Engineering in 2012, Oxehealth, the company behind Oxevision, has agreements with 25 NHS mental health trusts, according to its latest accounts, which reported revenues of about £4.7m in the year to 31 December 2023. But it is claimed in some cases staff rely too heavily on the infra-red camera system to monitor vulnerable patients, instead of making physical checks.