Labour calls for tighter security as hospitals lose items worth £750,000 in two years

Published on Saturday 19 December 2009 19:18

THOUSANDS of items, worth around £725,000 in total, have been lost or stolen from Scottish hospitals over the past two years, it was disclosed yestertoday.

Almost 2,500 items have gone missing, health secretary Nicola Sturgeon revealed in a parliamentary answer.

The revelation prompted opposition calls for the Scottish Government to strengthen security in NHS hospitals.

NHS Tayside has the worst record in Scotland, with 142 items worth about 125,000 lost or stolen from its premises in the past year.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran reported 264 items with a value of 47,494 lost or stolen.

The total value of NHS losses last year was 325,000, down from 401,000 in 2007-8.

Labour health spokesman Dr Richard Simpson said: "I am astonished that so many items have been lost or stolen. This is likely to include laptops, which may hold sensitive patient information, along with medical equipment and possibly even hospital furniture.

"In a tight financial environment we simply cannot afford for this to continue. The Scottish Government needs to start taking security in hospitals and clinics much more seriously. I want the health secretary to take action so that patients can be confident that their records don't fall into the wrong hands and expensive equipment stays where it belongs."

Ms Sturgeon said that any theft from an NHS hospital is "highly regrettable".

She said: "It is the responsibility of individual NHS boards to ensure they have the right security measures in place. Richard Simpson provides no evidence for his assertions about what may or may not have been stolen but he can rest assured that I have made clear to NHS boards the high importance I attach to good data protection procedures."