Secret cameras 'could make care homes like prisons' It's important to consider the culture of these premises, and whether we want them to have the same sort of atmosphere as a prison. It's right to investigate specific complaints, but this should not entail the routine, undisclosed surveillance of our loved ones. Norman Lamb, the care minister, said the cameras could be introduced at the request of relatives. Should secret cameras be placed in care homes? He insisted there would be "no loss of dignity" and the moves were necessary in the wake of the Winterbourne View scandal, where care staff were filmed assaulting patients by an undercover BBC team. "In Winterbourne View the Panorama cameras exposed some really dreadful things and it brought to light something that had to end," he said. Let's just imagine a situation where a family and a loved one were worried about the care that was being provided in their own home, and they arranged with the Care Quality Commission to install the camera to see what was happening. There's no loss of dignity there. It's all by agreement, but it might expose something dreadful that's happening that otherwise wouldn't come to light. Ms Sutcliffe said her proposals were "really tricky" and would be up for debate. People who are receiving care need to have their privacy and their dignity respected because they are having the most personal, intimate things done. We need to be careful how we go about this," she said.