Hospitals are far from immune from theft, according to details revealed yesterday by the Highlands’ biggest hospital.
A wedding ring, a £500 watch, a Poppy Appeal collection tin and even a car are among dozens of items that have been lost or stolen at Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, in the past five years.
Freedom of information figures also reveal that hundreds of pounds in cash, bicycles, credit cards, driving licences and a laptop computer have been reported missing by patients, staff and visitors.
In one incident, a patient returned from an appointment to find their car had been stolen.
The figures show that there were 82 reports of items lost or stolen between 2004 and last year, with the majority of victims being NHS staff – with cash, clothes, handbags, purses and wallets stolen, and ID badges and security passes belonging to employees being taken.
Raigmore’s security manager Brian Beattie admitted that even hospitals were not “immune from crime”.
He said: “People who are prepared to break the law in the community are also prepared to break the law in hospitals.
“We think we have a relatively low level of theft, and we attribute that in part to the fact that most people are honest, but also to our security measures.
“We have CCTV throughout the hospital and our own security staff. Staff are advised to be vigilant and to lock offices when unattended, and we report all suspected theft to the police.”
Ray Stewart, a union representative for Unite, which has 400 members in the Highlands, said: “Many of these incidents are opportunistic and there is not much you can do to legislate for that. If the number of thefts involving staff is going up, we would expect senior management to act.”
The figures also highlight some of the more unusual thefts at Raigmore in the past five years.
In separate incidents, a hairdryer, false teeth, theatre trainers, a gel wristpad, sweets, a £50 paperweight, a bus ticket, books, a pair of trousers, raffle ticket money, a hooded top, a public phone box and a PlayStation game, were taken.
In 2004, a patient reported that a £500 TAG watch had “disappeared”, and a Poppy Appeal collection tin was swiped from the buffet counter in 2005.
Last year, a patient lost a wallet containing almost £100, a drivers licence and a wedding ring.
There were 16 other thefts at Raigmore last year, including £480 in cash, jewellery, an iPod, and a mobile phone.
Thefts peaked in 2006, when 27 cases were reported.