Recently, the new legislation was proposed to allow mandatory installation of CCTV in operating rooms, and controversy over this law is staggering. Personally, I agree with the mandatory installation of CCTV in operating rooms.
First of all, CCTV in the operating room is a simple but useful device that can protect the safety of patients. The operating room is a sacred place where doctors save patients whose lives are at stake. However, patients' recent opinions about the operating room are fraught with anxiety. It is also reported through the media that after patients are unconscious due to general anesthesia, ghost surgeries are sometimes performed. In addition, patients' anxiety is growing as sexual assault, sexual harassment, and systematic cover-up of medical accidents are known to occur in the operating room. Even a plastic surgeon had a birthday party with an anesthesia patient next to him. It is only medical staff members who know what occurs in the operating room when the patient is unconscious with no guardian during the surgery. Because of these problems, CCTV is needed to detect medical criminals and prevent patients from experiencing hostile situations.
Secondly, the installation of CCTV will hold doctors more accountable while performing their operations. However, the medical community argues that if CCTV is installed, doctors will not be able to focus on their surgeries because they are being recorded, and eventually harm the patient during the operation due to the distraction. Doctors who appear on medical broadcasts focus on surgery even if they are recorded publicly rather than secretly, like CCTV. Likewise, it is hard to understand the claim that CCTV in operating rooms treats medical staff as potential criminals, even though CCTV in schools or daycares do not treat teachers or residents as potential criminals. Therefore, the presence of CCTV will allow medical staff to pay more attention to the surgery.
Lastly, CCTV in the operating room can protect doctors who perform high-risk operations from unnecessary medical disputes. The medical law requires doctors to explain patients’ diagnosis, procedure recovery, side effects of surgery, and must obtain written consent from the patient so they can perform surgery. If there is CCTV footage of the operating room, it is possible to reduce unnecessary medical complications through video verification, even if patients raise suspicions of medical accidents after high-risk surgery.
CCTV in the operating room can protect not only patients but also medical staff. Although constant opposition against CCTV in the operation room is increasing, I hope that legislation will be implemented as soon as possible to maintain operating room safety and protect patients’ human rights by utilizing CCTV in the near future.
