§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals she has to issue guidelines formally on the use of covert video surveillance in hospital settings in suspected cases of(a) intentional suffocation by parent of baby or child, (b) Munchhausen's syndrome by proxy and (c) non-accidental injury; what consultations she has had with (i) the Association of Directors of Social Services, (ii) the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts and (iii) the Royal College of Paediatricians on this procedure and protocols relating to its use.
§ Mr. BowisThere are currently no proposals for the Department to consult professional organisations formally or to issue guidelines on the use of covert video surveillance in hospitals for the investigation of suspicions of abuse of children. The Department has recently commended to the chairmen of all area child protection committees the high level of inter-agency collaboration demonstrated by Staffordshire child protection committee in the production of a joint working protocol on covert video surveillance in hospital.