S.Korea orders hospitals to install surveillance cameras in surgery rooms

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) – South Korean Health Ministry passed a new order on Friday that required all health facilities to install surveillance cameras in surgery rooms to prevent medical malpractice.

Under the revised rules, medical clinics must install cameras within three days in surgery rooms where patients are anesthetized and record surgeries, Soeul-based Yonhap News reported.

The law will be effective on Monday. The hospitals will have to store video records for at least 30 days.

However, doctors' associations opposed the mandate and filed a constitutional appeal, arguing that the "unprecedented" regulation violates doctors’ personal rights.

It could potentially hinder the delivery of optimal medical services due to increased supervision pressure, the associations said.