The mandatory installation of CCTV cameras in operating rooms has always rose as an issue when medical accidents have occurred. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Jun. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – Doctors and patients are locked in a fierce debate over the issue of installing closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) in operating rooms.
A petition on the Blue House website posted by the family of the late Kwon Dae-hee, a patient who died during surgery due to blood loss, has requested the mandatory installation of CCTV cameras in operating rooms, collecting more than 8,000 signatures as of last Friday.
Kwon died during a facial bone contouring surgery at a plastic surgery clinic in Gangnam, Seoul in 2016.
CCTV footage showed a surgeon leaving Kwon’s operating room to conduct surgery on other patients simultaneously. Kwon was left bleeding, accompanied by no one except for a nurse’s aide, for an extended period of time.
The mandatory installation of CCTV cameras in operating rooms has always rose as an issue when medical accidents have occurred, including ghost surgery by unlicensed personnel or other cover-up schemes.
Recently, Rep. Ahn Gyu-baek from the ruling Democratic Party proposed a bill to make the installation of CCTV cameras in operating rooms mandatory, legislation which is expected to be debated at the National Assembly soon.
In response, doctor’s associations are releasing statements opposing the idea.
The Korean Intern Resident Association recently conducted a survey of 866 residents from 90 hospitals, 81.29 percent of whom said it was not necessary to install CCTV cameras in operating rooms.
“Even banks get hacked, and we cannot ensure that a medical institution can manage all of the footage from CCTV cameras,” said one resident.
“If the patient and/or guardian do not allow residents to participate in a surgical procedure, regardless of medical accidents, it will lead to a shortage of opportunities for residents to receive proper training,” said another resident.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
