Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of body cameras that have been issued to (a) doctors and (b) nurses in hospitals since 1 January 2023; and what guidance his Department has issued on the use of body cameras in healthcare settings.

The information requested is not held centrally.

National Health Service organisations are responsible for putting in place their own policies and procedures to support staff, giving them access to appropriate training and making arrangements for security. Some hospitals have taken a local decision to fund and introduce body worn cameras for their staff.

To provide additional support nationally, £8.4 million has been invested by NHS England into the ambulance service to explore the efficacy of body worn cameras in reducing violence and abuse. As of January 2023, over 9,400 cameras have been made available to ambulance staff with an independent evaluation currently underway and a final report expected towards the end of 2024.

In 2019 NHS England established an NHS Violence Reduction Programme, which aims to prevent and reduce violence and aggression from patients, their families and the public, and mitigate the effects of violence and abuse on NHS staff.