Regular CCTV review with swipe card data

Today I am updating the House on the response to those recommendations. The Trust published an assurance statement in February 2024 on the implementation of the recommendations from the Phase 1 report. This sets out the progress made to implement the Inquiry’s recommendations.

The range of actions taken by the Trust include requiring that non-mortuary staff and contractors are always accompanied by another staff member when visiting the mortuaries; controlling access to mortuaries using swipe cards; mandating contractors to renew security clearances every three years; and installing CCTV coverage monitoring access to and from mortuary areas. The Trust Board is also providing greater oversight and assurance of legally regulated activity in the mortuary.

I am also reassured that NHS England’s South East regional team held monthly oversight meetings with the Trust between November 2023 and April 2024 (in partnership with Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board) to ensure progress against the Inquiry’s recommendations and to review evidence of the Trust’s progress in delivering their action plan. Ongoing compliance with the Inquiry's recommendations will be monitored by NHS England through regular regional oversight meetings with the Trust, and through other channels as appropriate.

The Trust now complies with this recommendation in full on the following basis:

• Once a month, the Operational Security Manager provides an electronic record to the Head of Service for the Care After Death Directorate with the dates and times of those visits, to enable them to check that only authorised staff are accessing the mortuaries. The data provided by the Operational Security Manager includes details of the access to specific doors (each door has a reference number) i.e. the individual who has accessed the door, the date, time of entry, and time of exit. The data also includes details of individuals who have attempted to gain access (via their swipe card) but have failed. Where anomalies are identified the Head of Service for the Care After Death Directorate reviews the CCTV footage of any particular dates.

• The Head of Service for the Care After Death Directorate also currently reviews CCTV footage from the mortuary of a random 24-hour period on a regular basis, within the CCTV control room.

• The retention period for CCTV images has been extended to circa 38-day to enable the audits of restricted areas that relate to the review of CCTV footage to continue to be undertaken monthly.

No statement on delivery from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust has been found in the sources searched. This is separate from the response above.