Independently monitored CCTV could protect vulnerable aged care residents

It's a potential solution to the shameful neglect and abuse of vulnerable elderly people: independently monitored CCTV cameras in nursing homes.

With Prime Minister Scott Morrison announcing a Royal Commission into the aged care sector, a service that installs networks of cameras inside nursing homes and provides offsite monitoring has launched in Australia.

Care Protect, which already operates the 24/7 cameras at nursing homes and mental health services in the UK, is consulting with Australian aged care providers and governments after learning of the country's elder abuse scandals.

They've included disturbing evidence of neglect and abuse from homes like Oakden in South Australia, Ark Healthcare in Parramatta, Poplars Nursing Home in North Epping, and Bupa Aged Care Seaforth.

Scott Sterling, of Care Protect Australia, says the main aim of the service is to "save lives" and "safeguard patients" but says the system can also assist staff who are falsely accused of abuse.

"(Elder abuse) definitely goes undetected and under-reported," he said.

"Going forward, the way to avoid abuse and the use of covert cameras is to have a legal agreement with the patient or with the family or next of kin that they should be monitored in their room.

"Our system will pick up on abuse cases very, very quickly and report back.

"If it's not resolved by the management we look to involve the regulators."

The Care Protect service, which costs about $25 a week, works by installing a network of motion-sensor cameras around all communal areas of nursing homes and in bedrooms with redacted privacy zones where residents or their families provide consent.

A team of independent nurses in an offsite surveillance hub monitor the cameras 24/7, alerting the home immediately if an incident occurs and, in worst case scenarios, reporting to authorities or social workers and co-operating with police in criminal cases.

They also provide months reports to nursing home companies and positive feedback when good quality care is observed.

The company currently has a surveillance hub in the UK, where Australian-registered nurses can be embedded, and next plans to open a monitoring hub in Sydney.

It provides surveillance in the UK's upmarket Priory rehabilitation centres, which has helped prevent patients self-harming and absconding from centres.

It's not legal to secretly record people on cameras in most states and territories in Australia - but in recent years, desperate relatives have used hidden cameras to obtain evidence of elderly relatives being abused.

People with dementia aren't regarded as reliable witnesses in court, meaning independent evidence is needed to prosecute.