CCTV at Psychiatric Hospitals Useless? ... Human Rights Commission: "Retain Footage for at Least 30 Days"

Recommends retaining footage for at least 30 days, 90 days in seclusion rooms
"Difficult to secure evidence when incidents occur"

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommended setting a minimum CCTV footage retention period so that facts can be established when patient assaults or deaths occur.

CCTV cameras installed across the country. Reporter Kim Hyunmin.

The Commission said on October 12 that it had recommended that the Minister of Health and Welfare incorporate standards for installing and operating CCTV systems at psychiatric institutions into the Mental Health and Welfare Act and set the footage retention period at a minimum of 30 days, or 90 days for seclusion rooms.

In a survey conducted during visits to 15 psychiatric institutions in the Seoul metropolitan area from October to December last year, the Commission found that some institutions had no CCTV cameras anywhere in their hospitals, including in locked wards. At the 13 institutions that had installed CCTV cameras, footage retention periods varied from seven to 30 days.

Some institutions had set the footage retention period to zero days, storing no footage on a separate server and instead checking it on mobile phones. The Commission also found institutions that violated Ministry of Health and Welfare guidelines by failing to install CCTV cameras in protective rooms used to monitor patients in seclusion or restraint.

The Commission pointed out that even when serious incidents occur in locked wards, including patient assaults or injuries, excessive seclusion or restraint, and deaths, victims and their families have difficulty establishing the facts and obtaining remedies because footage is unavailable or has been deleted after the retention period expires.

A Commission official said, "Taking into account CCTV operating standards for operating rooms and correctional facilities, the footage retention period should be set at a minimum of 30 days. For protective rooms, which are separate spaces for seclusion, the period should be extended to 90 days to protect human rights."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.