Lee Jae-myung's 'Operating Room CCTV' Also Supported by Human Rights Commission... Recommends Legislation to National Assembly

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, expressed his support for the Human Rights Commission's recommendation to the National Assembly to mandate the installation of CCTV in operating rooms.

On the 12th, Lee posted on his Facebook, stating, "Life over money, a path we must take... I welcome the Human Rights Commission's recommendation," showing strong agreement.

Earlier, in October 2018, despite social controversy, Lee installed the first operating room CCTV at Anseong Hospital of Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center. In March last year, this was expanded to five hospitals under the Gyeonggi Medical Center, including Suwon Hospital.

The public's response to the installation of operating room CCTV has also been enthusiastic.

The province recently released data summarizing the operation of operating room CCTV in six hospitals within the province from October 1, 2018, to December 31 of last year. Out of a total of 4,239 surgeries, 2,850 were recorded, resulting in a consent rate of 67% for filming.

This is 13 percentage points higher than the consent rate (54%) at Anseong Hospital, the first hospital to introduce operating room CCTV.

Looking at the consent rates by medical department, except for Urology (51%) and Ophthalmology (53%), all departments including Surgery (72%), Orthopedics (66%), Obstetrics and Gynecology (72%), Otorhinolaryngology (72%), and Dentistry (66%) recorded consent rates exceeding 60% for CCTV filming.

By hospital, Suwon Hospital had the highest rate at 78% (416 out of 533 cases), followed by Anseong Hospital (71%), Paju Hospital (65%), and Pocheon Hospital (65%).

Notably, there has been not a single case requesting a copy of the CCTV footage to date.

Regarding this, the province evaluated that it proves there is no use of footage without clear reasons such as suspected medical accidents, and concerns raised by the medical community about distrust and patient privacy infringement were merely "groundless fears."

Accordingly, the province plans to actively promote the expansion of operating room CCTV to prevent unlicensed medical practices such as sales representatives performing surgeries and various illegal acts that may occur in operating rooms, as well as to protect patients' right to know and human rights.

At the end of last year, the province additionally installed CCTV in the operating room of Pocheon Hospital and the newborn room of Yeoju Public Postpartum Care Center.

This year, the province plans to select 10 to 12 private medical institutions at the hospital level and support 30 million KRW per hospital for the installation of operating room CCTV.

Earlier, on the 10th, the Human Rights Commission held a plenary meeting attended by the chairperson and all standing and non-standing commissioners, deciding to express the opinion that "installation and operation of CCTV in operating rooms is necessary" to the Speaker of the National Assembly in the future.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.