Home Office refuses to enforce privacy code on NHS staff using video

The government has rejected a request by the surveillance camera watchdog to allow it to monitor the increasing and unregulated use of body-worn video cameras in hospitals.

The cameras, which record sound as well as images, are being increasingly deployed in hospitals in an effort to tackle abuse of frontline health service staff.

On Wednesday, it emerged that surveillance camera commissioner Tony Porter had warned ministers last year that the privacy of millions of NHS patients was put at risk by the unchecked use of the cameras.

In a call backed by privacy campaigners, Porter recommended adding NHS trusts to a list of public bodies required to comply with a code of practice on the use of surveillance in effort to promote greater transparency and accountability.

Now the Home Office, the department to which Porter reports, has rejected the requests.

A letter to Porter sent last week from the home office minister, Brandon Lewis, and released by the government on Wednesday, said the recommendation was unnecessary as: “We had not exhausted the possibilities of increasing voluntary compliance.”

In letter in November, also released on Wednesday, Porter warned that the voluntary approach had twice been rejected by NHS Protect, the body responsible for hospital security, “on the ground that they could not enforce compliance”.

Porter’s letter added: “Despite our best attempts, voluntary adoption has not worked … and it will difficult without government intervention.”

Under the code, which is overseen by Porter as the surveillance camera commissioner, public bodies such as the police must demonstrate a “pressing need” for the use of surveillance cameras, and warn the public of their use and how images will be stored and used. Porter, a former senior counter-terrorism officer, has been working with the police to ensure how public privacy can be protected as forces roll out body-worn video for frontline officers. He wants to do the same in the NHS.

In his November letter, Porter warned Lewis that he was becoming increasingly concerned about the use of surveillance in the NHS.

He said: “The NHS trusts are complex organisations that use surveillance camera systems in public areas where people under surveillance are likely to be vulnerable and distressed, and where the privacy requirements and burden on those conducting transparent, legitimate and proportionate surveillance is surely at its highest.”

It pointed out that millions of people use hospitals each year, and added: “The introduction of body-worn video cameras at several hospitals has increased my concerns. Body-worn video cameras are a particularly intrusive device as they capture audio and video simultaneously without the option of switching either off whilst recording.”

Porter said the government’s decision to allow surveillance to go unchecked in the NHS raised a series of questions about the privacy of patients.

In a statement to the Guardian, he said: “Surveillance cameras play an important role in maintaining public and staff safety, preventing and resolving crimes. Yet in the healthcare sector they are not subject to scrutiny and standards, and therefore can we be reassured that they are fit for purpose and are doing what they are meant to be doing?

“Are we sure that security officers using body-worn video are doing so without invading an individual’s right to privacy when they may be at their most vulnerable? NHS Protect have twice rejected recommending that trusts adopt the surveillance camera code of practice as it’s not mandatory for them – the code is designed to ensure cameras are used effectively, transparently and efficiently to protect individuals’ freedoms.

“In the absence of any mandate to adopt the code, I’m continuing to work with government to look at how we can encourage NHS trusts and hospitals to voluntarily adopt the surveillance camera code of practice.”

Daniel Nesbitt, research director at Big Brother Watch, urged ministers to heed Porter’s warning.

He said: “The government shouldn’t be standing in the way of effective oversight. The NHS controls a large number of CCTV cameras and the public have to be able to trust they will use them properly.

“Giving the surveillance camera commissioner the power to oversee how trusts use their cameras should be a no-brainer.”

Home Office refuses to enforce privacy code on NHS staff using video

Taking on ‘cake culture’: how to say no to office treats

Cake culture is killing us. The faculty of dental surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons has claimed that sugary office-based snacking is contributing to an epidemic of obesity and poor oral health in this country.

However, its suggestions – such as eating sugar only at lunchtime and doling out birthday cake only on Fridays – seem like half-measures. If you’re determined to avoid office cake, here are your options.

1 Fake an intolerance

The easiest way to refuse cake in the office is to say that you’ve gone gluten-free. However, this has its drawbacks: people will either start to bring in “free from” cakes just for you or they will shun you for being a fun-hating grump. So say you’re coeliac instead. Not only does it sound serious, but you might also be able to convince them that it’s contagious, and they’ll leave you to work in peace.

2 Start a new birthday tradition

On your birthday, why not set an example for your colleagues by bringing in some unwashed carrots and a pile of flaxseed? “Why aren’t you eating any?” you can shout at your co-workers. “Aren’t you happy that it’s my birthday? Kevin, try this flaxseed. It tastes better if you mix it with saliva.”

3 Get a new job

If cake culture is ruining your health, then don’t be afraid to up sticks and change career. Maybe the Anti-Flour League has a position going. Or perhaps the charity Butter is Bullshit wants a new social-media coordinator. Have you enquired at the dental surgery faculty at the Royal College of Surgeons? You may find that everyone there is gaunt and unhappy, but it sounds like your kind of deal.

4 Eat so much cake that you die

This one is a bit drastic, but bear with me. Whenever someone brings cake into the office, grab as much of it as you can and force it into your mouth in front of everyone. Eventually, if you combine it with a total lack of exercise, this will cause your heart to give up, and you’ll collapse to the floor covered in icing, and your colleagues will forever equate brightly coloured celebration treats with the harrowing memory of your death. Congratulations – you have saved their lives.

5 Work from home

If you don’t have an office to go to, you’ll never be invited for cake. But it’s OK. You’ve got three coconut Quality Streets left over from Christmas and a slice of bread that you can ball up and stick a candle in if you want to pretend it’s someone’s birthday. God, you’re lonely. But you’re also thin, so that’s something.

Taking on ‘cake culture’: how to say no to office treats

Let them eat nuts: dentists want office "cake culture" to end in 2017

As many people return to work after Christmas full of good intentions, leading dentists are urging them to make one more resolution for the new year: eat less cake in the office.

The faculty of dental surgery (FDS) at the Royal College of Surgeons has urged employers to tackle workplace “cake culture” which is contributing to the obesity epidemic and poor oral health.

The faculty is urging companies to swap biscuits for fruit and nuts in meetings, scrap the most sugary treats from vending machines and make low-sugar options more available and visible, while employees should stop snacking and eating birthday cake and other treats throughout the week.

“We need a culture change in offices and other workplaces that encourages healthy eating and helps workers avoid caving in to sweet temptations such as cakes, sweets and biscuits,” said the dean of the faculty, Prof Nigel Hunt.

In 2015-16 around 63% of adults in England were classified as either obese or overweight and nearly 64,000 over-18s were admitted to hospital because of tooth decay. According to the FDS, 40% of people made a resolution to lose weight last year, and 24% said they wanted to eat more healthily.

The office had become one of the main places where people consumed excessive amounts of sugar thanks to rewards from bosses and colleagues celebrating special occasions, said Hunt.

The faculty has produced a series of tip for workers to cut back on sugar.

It says they should avoid snacking and keep sugar as a lunchtime treat, reduce portion sizes and introduce a “sugar schedule”, so if birthdays happen throughout the week, cakes are only doled out on Fridays.

Only eating sugar at lunchtime can help keep teeth healthy as each time sugar is consumed it fuels acid formation, which softens tooth enamel and leads to decay, according to the faculty. Less frequent sugary snacks means the teeth “come under attack less frequently”.

It urged more companies to employ the “nudge theory” tactics used by companies such as Google, which places confectionery in opaque containers, uses smaller plates and makes healthy foods more visible – resulting in its New York employees eating 3.1m fewer calories over seven weeks.

The FDS also called on the government to restrict sugary food and drink price promotions and consider forcing supermarkets to replace high-sugar foods at the point of sale with healthier alternatives, using legislation if necessary.

The government plans to introduce the soft drinks industry levy in April 2018 which will apply a charge to makers and importers of soft drinks that contain more than a certain amount of sugar.

Let them eat nuts: dentists want office "cake culture" to end in 2017

Woman granted UK visa to donate bone marrow to sister in U-turn by Home Office

The government has backtracked on its decision to prevent a Nigerian woman from entering the UK so that she can donate bone marrow to help save the life of her seriously ill sister.

The decision came amid public pressure after a petition calling for May Brown’s sister Martha to be granted a visa was signed by more than 60,000 people.

“I am overjoyed for the U-turn the Home Office has taken,” she said on Friday. “I would like to thank the British public and beyond, and my MP Richard Drax, for their overwhelming support.”

May Brown, who lives in Dorset and has a two-year-old daughter Selina-May with her ex-soldier husband Mike, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia last year. Doctors said her only chance of survival was a stem cell transplant and assessed her sister, who lives in Nigeria with her own two young children, as a “10 out of 10 match”, campaigners said.

She was the only suitable match to be identified after what doctors at King’s College Hospital, London, said was “an extensive search” for another donor.

But earlier this month it emerged that Home Office officials had refused Martha the visa, saying they did not believe she would be a “genuine visitor”. Despite May Brown’s offer to pay for the trip, the officials believed Martha did not have the necessary funds to make it and that she would not return to Nigeria once the visa expired.

May Brown insisted her sister, whose children were to stay behind in Nigeria, had “no desire” to relocate to the UK.

A campaign led by the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) called for the decision to be reversed and the immigration minister, Robert Goodwill, confirmed the Home Office had relented on Friday.

“I have carefully considered the case of May Brown and decided that her sister will be granted leave to enter the UK given the compassionate and exceptional circumstances,” he said.

May Brown added: “I would also like to thank ACLT. I will forever be grateful for the love and support they have shown my family and me.”

She is currently receiving her second round of intensive chemotherapy at King’s College Hospital.

Woman granted UK visa to donate bone marrow to sister in U-turn by Home Office

Property Office accessing NHS data to support track down illegal immigrants

Health care records. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian

The Home Office has been given access to the NHS information of far more than six,900 men and women because 2010 as element of its efforts to track down illegal immigrants, prompting worries from patients’ and migrants’ rights groups.

Healthcare information are protected by information protection laws but new statistics show the Home Office has produced use of a small-noticed exemption in the principles to entry patients’ non-clinical data, with out any need to have for a court purchase.

The exemption makes it possible for officials to see the place folks have manufactured use of the well being services and when, but not the details of the clinical situations or medical interest they acquired.

Police forces and the National Crime Agency have also accessed these data, the figures present, in pursuit of perpetrators of severe crimes this kind of as murder or rape.

Individuals groups explained the use of NHS records by immigration and law enforcement officials could deter people from seeking remedy for themselves or their families, and so pose a public well being threat.

“We are concerned to discover that the House Office is searching for to track down likely immigration offenders by requesting their healthcare data,” mentioned Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Individuals Association. “While we are aware of the government’s need to have to clamp down on unlawful immigrants, we do not think that it need to be carried out by way of their medical and social care data.

“There is the really true danger that some sufferers might put off seeking medical assist for fear of their information becoming leaked. Furthermore, kids may endure if mother and father are reluctant to consider them for remedy when they are ill. The health and welfare of patients should usually be the priority and we must not introduce policies which could undermine the core ideas of our well being services.”

The House Workplace requests 1st emerged in a 91-web page independent report on data release policy at the Well being and Social Care Info Centre this month. The PricewaterhouseCoopers report located that among July 2010 and December 2013 the House Workplace made far more than 12,587 requests for data from the NHS’s Nationwide Back Office, which keeps simple data on all registered NHS patients.

The vast bulk of these requests for info – twelve,204 – had been accepted by the NBO, and information have been identified in 6,304 instances. Police and Soca (now the Nationwide Crime Agency) produced 14,951 requests more than the very same period. Information on requests prior to July 2010 had been destroyed, the report found.

The data are launched under an exemption to the Information Protection Act, which normally protects the confidentiality of NHS data, for the pursuit of serious crime. The NBO passes on basic data on the patient, such as the nearby NHS region the patient last had get in touch with with. The Residence Workplace or police force concerned is then free of charge to pursue more thorough data from nearby NHS agencies.

A supplemental release of info covering the first three months of 2014 showed the House Office had because overtaken police forces as the primary requester of wellness data, creating 725 requests for information versus 635 from police and the NCA.

Requests for NHS information

Ruth Grove-White, the policy director of the Migrants’ Rights Network, called the findings “disturbing” and questioned regardless of whether the information requests had been a sensible use of strained NHS sources.

“NHS workers are previously underneath stress and the last point we require is for them to be forced to act as immigration officers as nicely,” she mentioned. “This further proof that the House Office is making use of the NHS as a vehicle for immigration enforcement is disturbing.

“Some migrants who are entitled to entry the NHS are already too intimidated to look for the care they or their children want. In result, this approach discourages men and women from going to their GP or hospital when they need to have to, with wider public wellness implications.”

The House Workplace declined to react to queries about how many of the six,965 men and women whose NHS details it had acquired have been further pursued by means of their local NHS bodies or GP surgeries, but it defended its use of NHS data.

“We function closely with a wide variety of partners across government and the personal sector to make sure people who are in the United kingdom illegally are removed,” mentioned a spokesman. “Any requests for info are proportionate and in line with data sharing legislation.”

The National Crime Company stressed that its use of NHS records was strictly limited to severe crimes.

“The NCA utilizes National Back Workplace information as one of a amount of tactics and intelligence sources to trace identified fugitives,” explained a spokesman. “The use of these enquiries is proportionate and can only be produced for significant offences, for example murder and critical assault, and we make them only after all other checks which includes open source have also been pursued.”

The HSCIC stressed that the data requests covered only non-clinical information, and mentioned acquiring health-related records would call for a court purchase. It additional that it had by no means obtained an purchase seeking medical records.

Property Office accessing NHS data to support track down illegal immigrants

Indigenous wellness and schooling dangers impartiality by move to PMs office

The outgoing chair of the Council of Australian Governments reform council has warned of the loss of an independent voice on Indigenous health and training when the prime minister’s workplace requires on the process of reporting outcomes from the Closing the Gap campaign.

The council’s final report, a supplement that focuses on well being outcomes for Indigenous individuals, was launched on Thursday, with the council chairman, John Brumby, warning the proposed $ seven co-payment to see a GP could lead to worsening overall health in the Indigenous community.

The council is currently being wound up on 30 June as portion of the government’s price range measures and the prime minister’s office will presume accountability for reporting on Closing the Gap outcomes. Brumby mentioned the council’s reviews had kept the government accountable and assisted emphasis efforts in Indigenous education and overall health, but also showed there was still a long way to go.

“I have a fantastic deal of respect for the Division of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and I’m confident there are individuals with the skills to do that in PM&ampC. However, what the COAG reform council did that was particularly particular was hold governments to account on the promises they have produced, but did so independently of any 1 government,” he mentioned.

“We report independently on the progress of all nine of Australia’s governments – the commonwealth, the states and the territories – in closing the gap. That independence ensured that our reporting was impartial and aim. Who will do this in the long term?”

The report identified lung cancer prices amongst Indigenous folks had been still twice as substantial as amid the non-Indigenous population Indigenous men and women had been waiting longer for elective surgery and to get into nursing residences and were drinking considerably much more alcohol in single sessions.

A ten-year gap remains in existence expectancy but youngster mortality and immunisation costs have improved greatly.

Brumby warned the government towards spending budget measures which could harm the possibilities of reaching Closing the Gap targets and lead to specific struggling between Indigenous individuals.

“As you know, the expense of healthcare is quite topical at the second. Australians are becoming asked to contemplate what they would pay for accessibility to a major care physician,” he mentioned on Thursday in Melbourne.

In accordance to the council, 12% of Indigenous people previously delayed or determined against a check out to a GP because of value and 34.6% delayed or did not gather prescribed medicine due to expense.

“When people begin to avoid going to their primary or neighborhood care supplier due to the fact of price or other reasons, they frequently finish up in hospital,” Brumby mentioned.

“And what we identified was that costs of potentially preventable hospitalisations for Indigenous folks were previously 3 to 4 occasions greater than charges for other Australians. These benefits provide context for governments when they are considering policies close to entry to principal care.”

He added: “Governments ought to be cautious that they do not place up barriers to healthcare access for Indigenous folks as it may undo the very good work that has been accomplished in this room in excess of 5 years and finish up creating a distinct burden on the hospital program.”

According to the council’s report, in 2011–13 the Indigenous grownup smoking price was 41.1% even though the non-Indigenous charge was sixteen% and rates for the two groups had fallen given that 2008.

Of Indigenous 5-year-olds, 89.eight% are entirely immunised, compared with 90.eight% of all children. In 2012, Indigenous one particular-year-olds had been behind other a single-12 months-olds in currently being entirely immunised but they caught up from when they had been about two years previous.

Indigenous people waited an common of forty days for elective surgical treatment in 2012–13, while other Australians waited an regular of 36 days.

The report says 14.2% of Indigenous folks waited nine months or a lot more for a nursing property location in 2012-13 whilst 11.seven% of non-Indigenous folks waited far more than nine months. This was an improvement on 2011-twelve, when 18% of Indigenous individuals waited nine months or much more.

Even though there was no considerable variation in the risk of long-term harm from alcohol, the report identified Indigenous people tended to drink a lot more in a session.

Of individuals who had drunk alcohol in the previous year, 44% of Indigenous guys reported drinking 11 or a lot more common drinks in one session, in contrast with 33.five% of non-Indigenous guys. Of Indigenous girls, thirty.eight% reported they had drunk 7 or much more regular drinks in a session, compared with 21.% of non-Indigenous ladies.

“What we identified was that Indigenous people had been three times as very likely to die of an avoidable cause. This indicates that 3-quarters of deaths of Indigenous folks aged under 75 have been avoidable both by means of early prevention or remedy,” Brumby said.

“By way of comparison, two-thirds of all Australians died from avoidable triggers. It is a tragedy to think of all of those taken just before their time purely because they did not acquire care early adequate or did not make the lifestyle alterations to stop ailment.”

Indigenous wellness and schooling dangers impartiality by move to PMs office

House Office urged to suspend Nigerian family"s deportation in excess of FGM fears

Afusat Saliu says that her daughters, aged a single and 3, faced getting mutilated if the family is forced to return to Nigeria. Photograph: Anj Handa/PA

The Home Workplace is facing calls to suspend the deportation of a mom who fears her two youthful daughters will grow to be victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) if they go back to Nigeria, soon after an expert came forward to insist that the threat is genuine.

Lawyers for Afusat Saliu, who is herself a victim of the practice, are launching a late bid to persuade immigration officials to take the evidence of the Nigerian-born FGM expert Yemi Fagborun into account.

Fagborun told the Guardian she needed to speak to the Uk Border Agency (UKBA) on behalf of the Saliu family to persuade officials of the danger in sending them to Nigeria.

“My dread is for the two kids, who are at chance. Folks come right here for protection and we are sending them back and saying ‘we don’t care what is occurring to you’. It is not excellent adequate. That is what is happening right here. She came for safety and it is not excellent ample,” Fagborun stated.

Bhumika Parmar, Saliu’s lawyer, confirmed that she was trying to halt the deportation so the possibly vital proof could be heard.

Saliu and her daughters, 3-year-outdated Basirat and a single-12 months-old Rashidat, had been due to be deported to Nigeria on Thursday night. They unsuccessfully argued that they ought to remain because the youngsters faced currently being mutilated and Afusat forcibly married at the insistence of their extended loved ones.

They have been, even so, given a temporary reprieve hours before their flight, right after claims that the Home Workplace – of which UKBA is a portion – did not give the requisite discover.

Fagborun attacked the British government for concurrently taking the lead in the international battle against FGM and deporting men and women she insisted have been at danger of it.

“This is not sending a great signal out and it is going to make our work much, considerably much more difficult. The House Workplace does not believe her that there is a real threat, but I was in Nigeria in March and it is,” she mentioned.

“Men and women at danger of FGM soon after deportation need to be offered the same standing as individuals at risk of domestic violence. It is needed to safeguard these young women.”

A House Workplace spokesman explained the department did not comment on personal circumstances.

House Office urged to suspend Nigerian family"s deportation in excess of FGM fears

Does your office have a private working track?

Adidas was founded over 65 many years in the past, but the common age of staff is just thirty many years previous.

The functioning surroundings is described as ”like going back to school” with a welcoming atmosphere and typical social events.

All workplace employees have use of various sporting services, which includes a personal operating track.

Does your office have a private working track?