Table 3.

Representative quotes for theme 3. Complacency and ethics

Quotes 1	I don't know if that's this setting, but do you ever get the feeling that they're ignoring things, because they feel like the computer would have told you about it? So that they're not going to call up or they're not going to seek help for a potential problem, because they feel like you should already know, because of the web-based system. (HCP Focus Group 1) I'm not sure about that, and I think that’s where my slight, my only concern with it really is that people may—I wonder if people might not seek medical advice because they think that they are being kept an eye on, is my concern with it, sort of where there’s a false reassurance. (HCP Focus Group 2) Yes, like Big Brother, they’re thinking that if anything goes wrong we would pick it up. Whereas now, I particular word it as, ‘If there is a problem we will look at your data and we can fix it remotely’. (HCP Focus Group 3)
Quotes 2	Patient H: Well, I think if there’s something really wrong with me, the hierarchy at the other end will know about it, without me having ring up … that makes me feel much more secure. Patient I: Well, it makes you feel more comfortable, because you know that if anything goes wrong, it will immediately be spotted. Carer 3: … especially if there was to be any problems with his breathing, I know the hospital is aware of it at the same time as me probably.
Quotes 3	The main down side as I see it is that you sort of tell somebody that you’re watching them but then are you watching them all the time? I think that there’s something slightly strange ethically about that. Then the other thing is if you’re keeping an eye on them and something terrible had happened to them, I don’t think that we have a way to find that out or act upon the information. (HCP Focus Group 2) … if you’ve got a ventilator that’s got the data recorded and you’re not looking at it, that’s like taking a blood test and then not checking the result. You could argue it the other way as well, couldn’t you? Maybe the modem adds a different dimension to it but historically we had ventilators that had cards in them that were recording data and generally in the field lots of places don’t make use of the card data so then you’ve got data available to you that you’re not using, that’s maybe just as much of an ethical issue as if you’ve got data that you’re not checking every day. I don’t know. (HCP Focus Group 2)