Families of mental health patients have called for a nationwide ban on the use of the Oxevision camera monitoring system, which is deployed in roughly half of England’s mental health wards. Their appeals came during the ongoing Lampard inquiry into mental health deaths in Essex, where it was revealed that five patients died by suicide or unexpectedly over a two-year period while being monitored by Oxevision’s infrared cameras at the Essex University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Eput).

Peter Mant KC, representing more than 70 bereaved families—including that of 16-year-old Elise Sebastian, who took her own life in 2021 after staff muted the system’s alarms—argued that the system’s misuse had materially contributed to harm and fatalities among vulnerable patients. Mant described widespread confusion among nursing staff, patients, and hospital administrators regarding appropriate use of the technology. He warned that Oxevision was often treated as a substitute for direct in-person observation, which diminished therapeutic engagement and created missed opportunities to intervene.

Brenda Campbell KC, also representing families affected by these deaths, urged Kate Lampard, chair of the inquiry, to consider recommending a national suspension of the system’s use on mental health wards. Campbell emphasized that the intrusive surveillance disproportionately harmed detained, traumatised, and neurodivergent patients and criticized the lack of regulatory oversight. She described Oxevision’s pervasive monitoring as creating a “coercive power imbalance,” leaving patients with “no sanctuary and no means of knowing when they are being watched.”

The Lampard inquiry, which began in 2024, is investigating over 2,000 mental health-related deaths in Essex spanning 23 years, including evidence of preventable suicides and self-harm at Eput and its predecessor NHS organizations. As part of the inquiry, Lampard is considering issuing interim regulations to prevent further deaths if deemed necessary.

Representatives of the system’s manufacturer, Lio, have contested claims that Oxevision is ineffective or unsafe. Laura Cozens, head of patient safety at Lio, testified that the system offers important benefits to mental health patients and warned against interpreting the inquiry’s evidence as a wholesale indictment of the technology’s value. However, Mant noted that claims of Oxevision’s effectiveness by Lio were based largely on unverified anecdotal evidence rather than rigorous evaluation.

The inquiry continues to examine how the balance between patient safety and privacy has been managed in inpatient mental health settings, highlighting tensions between technology-driven surveillance and the clinical need for compassionate, direct care.