Rise in patients losing property in hospitals

nhs: Number of items lost or stolen in Tayside increases as health board offers assurances

NHS Tayside has given an assurance that every effort is being made to stop patient belongings being lost or stolen.

New figures have shown the number of items lost or stolen from NHS Tayside buildings rose from 17 in 2014-15 to 47 in 2015-16.

The type of items included clothing, dentures, a hearing aid, jewellery, orthopaedic shoes, earrings, glasses, a handbag and money.

A spokesman for NHS Tayside said: “The figures reported include items that have been lost as well as those reported as stolen.

“The public should be reassured that every effort is made to ensure the safety of their personal belongings whilst they are in hospital.

“We regularly promote the message that ‘security is everyone’s responsibility’.

“Staff are encouraged to report all incidents no matter how small which could account for the increase in number of items reported as lost or stolen.

“Staff and members of the public can all play their part in reducing theft and are advised not to bring any valuable items or large sums of money into hospital.”

The Scottish Patients Association has previously described the financial cost of lost patient belongings as “unacceptable”.

The body believes there should be an insurance policy in place to cover lost items which could go towards medicine or staff salaries.

Montrose councillor David May said: “It is disappointing to read that items have been stolen from Tayside hospitals and from the statistics this seems to have been increasing.

“However, I have no doubt that this has led to a review of the security procedures, but the main priority of heath staff must be patient care.

“There is no doubt that we are very fortunate to have such a high-quality and dedicated staff who serve us superbly despite the increased pressures they face as the demands on our health service increase and the shortages of staff in some areas of the service.”

The freedom of information figures revealed the items stolen from NHS Tayside’s buildings also included lead flashings from the roof.

NHS Fife said it had no reported incidents of thefts from its buildings in the past two years.

We regularly promote the message that ‘security is everyone’s responsibility’. NHS TAYSIDE SPOKESMAN