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This event took place on 29th November, 2.00-3.00pm
The security of sensitive data is an increasingly pressing issue in UK health care. Even after the discontinuation of the SIM (Serenity Integrated Mentoring) model of mental health care by NHS England, the collection, storage and sharing of data between the NHS, government departments and private companies remains a serious concern. For example, video monitoring system Oxevision remains in use on mental health wards and the Home Office is pushing for access to NHS records for immigration enforcement.
In a situation where invasive data collection and sharing practices are moving faster than they can be regulated, and in the context of the creeping criminalisation of distress, how can we, as people with lived experience and grassroots groups, stay on top of these developments and imagine what safer data practices might look like in mental health care?
Chair: Kieran Lewis
Guests: Alison Faulkner, Stop Oxevision, Hil Aked
- This session is for NSUN members. Membership is free and open to user-led groups and individuals with lived experience of mental ill-health, distress, and trauma. If you are not already a member, please sign up before registering.
- This session will have British Sign Language interpretation and Zoom closed captions enabled. Please let us know of any other accessibility requirements in the sign up form. If you need help with costs to be able to access this event, we may be able to make a contribution – please email us at info@nsun.org.uk.
- This session will be recorded and shared later for people who cannot attend. For more information, please visit the Conduct Agreement & Data Page.
- Please note that to avoid disruption or distraction, we will be unable to admit people who arrive ten minutes after the start time.
- You will need to agree to NSUN’s conduct agreement in order to register:
We want virtual NSUN spaces to be safe, welcoming, and inclusive. Harassment, hate speech, and inappropriate behaviour of any kind, verbal or in the chat/Q&A, will not be tolerated. We reserve the right to immediately remove any attendee we consider to be in breach of this conduct agreement. This includes anyone making racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or otherwise discriminatory, offensive, or hateful remarks.
Removed participants will not be able to re-join the session, or, if applicable, join any of the rest of the sessions in a day or series of events. In order to avoid the derailing of sessions we will not enter into conversations around why conduct was deemed inappropriate in the sessions themselves.
Alison Faulkner (she/her)
Alison Faulkner is a survivor researcher with around 30 years’ experience of working in mental health, mainly in the voluntary and community sector. She has personal experience of mental distress and self-harm; and of using mental health services, including inpatient care, medication, psychotherapy, A&E and crisis services. Alison has a PhD from City, University of London on the role and value of experiential knowledge in mental health research. She has been self-employed for over 20 years and has worked for most of the major UK mental health charities, including NSUN (the National Survivor User Network), Mind, Together and the Mental Health Foundation during that time. In recent years, much of her research and consultancy has focused on peer support, but she has enduring interest in improving acute inpatient services and services for people who self-harm.
Twitter: @AlisonF101
Hat (they/them)
Stop Oxevision is a survivor led campaign to challenge the use of surveillance technologies in mental health inpatient settings, this includes CCTV and body-worn cameras as well as specific technologies including Oxevision. Oxevision is a patient monitoring system consisting of an infrared sensor and camera, which can be used to take vital signs and observe patients remotely. These technologies are increasingly embedded in mental health services often used without patient consent or consideration of the harms and threat they may pose.
Twitter and Instagram: @stopoxevision
Hil Aked (they/them)
Hil Aked is a writer, investigative researcher and activist with a background in political sociology whose work has appeared in the Guardian, Independent, Sky News and Al Jazeera, as well as volumes from Pluto Press and Zed Books/Bloomsbury. Their first book Friends of Israel: The Backlash Against Palestine Solidarity was published by Verso in 2023.
Twitter: @hil_aked
Kieran Lewis (he/him)
Kieran Lewis joined NSUN in December 2022. As NSUN’s Rights and Migration Policy Officer, he works with members to challenge the separation of mental health and migration policy, centring the voices of those with lived experience of the UK immigration system.
Kieran holds a BA in French and Spanish, and has an MSc in International Migration and Public Policy. He is particularly interested in the experiences of irregularised people and has been involved with a number of grassroots organisations supporting people with a migrant background in London – most recently the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain and Latin American House.
Twitter: @kieran_lws
NSUN Members' Event 2023 