Chamber and committees

Scottish Ambulance Service submission of 3 February 2022

PE1877/E - Provide body cameras for all frontline NHS staff

The operational evaluation of body worn video technology is currently in the scoping and planning phase. The extreme pressures being experienced across the whole healthcare system have hampered the speed of progress of this work to date.

The operational evaluation will seek to evaluate the technology and its use in some of the following ways:

• Ease of use and the effect the presence of the equipment has on the delivery of clinical care
• Staff acceptance and confidence of the equipment in terms of attitude towards wearing the technology
• Staff side / Union opinion of the technology
• Whether the presence of a body worn camera escalates, deescalates or has no effect on a situation
• The practicalities of data storage, system management and the governance required to support this across the Service

The timescale for the initial evaluation of collected data will be towards the end of quarter 3 of FY 2022/23. The results of this pilot trial will inform a wider discussion on the validity of body worn video technology in the Scottish Ambulance Service. In the case the evaluation is in favour of the technology, these results will inform a business case for funding consideration.