Miss B was admitted to an undisclosed EPUT ward in October 2021, initially under one-to-one observation but eventually she was allowed to be in her room on her own.
She said she soon became fearful of the Oxevision system that was observing her.
“I would have a shower, staff would come in and say, ‘you’ve been in here for so many minutes’ and say things like, ‘we’re getting loads of alerts, can you hurry up in the bathroom’,” Miss B told the BBC.
“It was distressing… that feeling of constantly being watched, like never being alone, but also no-one’s there.”
She said staff told her contradictory information about whether she was being recorded and how long any video footage was kept for.
“I was really confused and I really didn’t feel safe on that ward,” Miss B said.
“I didn’t trust the staff, and I felt like they also genuinely weren’t educated on what this technology was doing either.”
Miss B said staff did not ask for her consent to be remotely monitored, there was no information on the ward about it, and when she asked staff to turn the system off in her room, her request was refused.
Her anxiety was the “worst” it had ever been during a further five to six months she remained on the ward, she explained.
“I was the most unwell I’d ever been, and Oxevision played a huge part in that.”