£800 in hospital worker’s bag stolen from under her desk

A HOSPITAL worker from Ashbourne says she has been left “disgusted” after a thief stole her handbag from a ward.

Margaret Hawke, who works on reception at Royal Derby Hospital, was found the bag had been swiped from under her desk at the entrance to Ward 216.

It was a double blow for the 61-year-old, as the bag had her phone inside plus £800 in cash which was going to be spent on hoodies for staff.

Ms Hawke says the thief was seen running from the hospital on CCTV after the incident, Tuesday, April 20.

Later she was able to find their location by tracking her iphone, but she said despite giving this information to the police, her bag has not yet been found. It comes after a husband was left distraught when someone stole his dying wife’s belongings from her hospital bedside, while earlier this month a hospital worker was spared jail after stealing an 89-year-old patient’s debit cards.

Ms Hawke, who has worked on the short-stay ward for six years, said she had popped away from her desk for “two minutes” at around 3pm. “My reception is near the entrance to the ward,” she said.

“I walked along the corridor to put something on a noticeboard. I was gone two minutes and I saw the doors were wide open and thought that was odd as we’ve been keeping the doors closed.

“My bag was under the desk, you can’t see it from anywhere. I looked but it had gone. We got a full description. Security got him on CCTV running out the hospital past Marks & Spencer.”

Ms Hawke says she was left even more upset as the thief took £800.

“I was collecting hoodies for staff on my ward and was going to pay the supplier with that when he delivered them,” she said.

“I’m disgusted that someone could come into a hospital and steal in times like this. It’s disgraceful.”

After reporting the theft to the police, Ms Hawke went home and checked her iphone’s tracker.

It told her the phone was at an address in Curzon Street, Derby, and she reported this to police.

“They said they didn’t have any resources to send anybody,” she said. “I thought ‘I’m handing it to you on a plate.’”

She said she has since been asked to make a statement about the theft

A spokesperson for Derbyshire police said: “The victim in this case called us to report the phone location service was showing her stolen device to be in the Curzon Street area of Derby,” she said.

“Unfortunately at the time of her call, officers were committed at other incidents, including a domestic abuse case and searching for a high-risk missing person, and we were unable to send an officer to make inquires at that time.

“Our investigation into the theft continues, with officers viewing CCTV from the hospital to ascertain whether a suspect can be identified.”

Cathy Winfield, executive chief nurse at Royal Derby Hospital, said the hospital trust is working with police.

She said: “We fully support and are cooperating with Derbyshire Police’s investigation and take a zero tolerance approach to of incidents this nature. We would also like to extend our apologies to Margaret.

“We discourage colleagues bringing personal and valuable items to work.

“Should colleagues bring in valuable items, they are encouraged to keep them in secure staff rooms with locked doors, with individual lockers also available to use.”