The Quebec Government announced new regulations Tuesday related to the use of video cameras and surveillance in long-term care facilities for seniors.
The Quebec Government’s new rules outline who is allowed to install and use video cameras in seniors’ residences, as well as how to do it and what is allowed to be recorded.
For example, a camera may only be placed in a senior’s living space, not a common recreation or eating area.
Paul Brunet is Chair of the Council for the Protection of Patients and says these new rules don’t improve care for patients.
“It is becoming a very cold, even colder relationship, between the caregiver and the patient,” he said. “So, it’s not for better protection of patients. It’s to comfort and secure the administrations.”
Brunet said he worries that adding cameras just chips away at the quality of care and it leaves administrators off-the-hook for dealing with the cause of the problem.
“The cause of the problem is some - very rare, but still bad employees - that you did not check on, you did not search for criminal records, you did not train well or even worse, you did not supervise them well.”
Brunet adds it’s the administration of care facilities who should be addressing cases of senior abuse, instead of putting the burden on families to install surveillance cameras.