Terry Thomas reconsiders the legal and ethical issues raised by CVS, arguing for more public debate

The Yorkshire Television (YTV) documentary ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’, broadcast on 12 January 1999, was an attempt to bring the practice of Covert Video Surveillance (CVS) on paediatric wards to a wider audience. CVS is the technique whereby concealed cameras are placed in a cubicle or side ward to film secretly parents interacting with their children in order to obtain evidence of child abuse. Nurses act as observers at the same time as the filming continues and are expected to intervene to protect the child should anything untoward happen. CVS has been particularly linked to Munchausens Syndrome by Proxy.