An IP CCTV system is serving a community hospital and seven minor injury units (MIUs) in a south of England NHS Foundation Trust. Secom plc won the competitive tender for the tightly specified project.
Mal Fairless of Secom’s Major Projects Team, says the Trust wanted a system for 24-7 surveillance of strategic public areas at the eight sites, to provide security – especially at night – for staff and patients, without intruding on the privacy of consulting rooms or wards.
He says: “To secure the contract we had to show that Secom was registered with Constructionline and thus able to comply with Government construction criteria. We also had to prove our platinum Approved Installer status for Milestone video management software (VMS). In addition competitive pricing, the installation engineers had to be our own employees, not subcontractors.
“To satisfy this requirement, we drew on our High Security Services team, which consists of engineers who are not only well-qualified, but also have security clearances recognised by the banking sector.”
Working to a tight schedule, the installer fitted multiple HD IP cameras at each site – with some camera positions presenting challenging above-ceiling cable runs. Secom had to observe strict fire-stopping requirements where cables passed through fire compartment bulkheads. Each site has local monitoring – typically a screen at the reception desk – driven by the VMS. This lets staff watch live footage from one or more cameras. Secom provided training for relevant staff on site.
Feeds from all cameras are sent over Internet Protocol to the Trust’s central security department where they are stored on a Milestone recorder.
Mal Fairless adds: “The Trust’s security manager has full control of the recorded images. Requests to view – by police, for example – have to be agreed by the security manager. This ensures that imagery is subject to the same high standards of confidentiality as patients’ medical records.”
The VMS in use is Milestone’s XProtect.
