UK STOLEN COMPUTERS AT ROYAL BERKSHIRE HOSPITALicBerkshire - Scandal of stolen computers at Royal Berkshire HospitalScandal of stolen computers at Royal Berkshire Hospital

Aug 4 2005

By Karl Plunkett


COMPUTERS at the Royal Berkshire Hospital have been bolted to the floor to arrest a costly epidemic of thefts.

But this week the Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospitals NHS Trust admitted it does not the know the full extent of the financial losses involved because it has only just begun keeping records.

And the admission also raises fears that confidential patient records accessed by medical staff from a central database could fall into the wrong hands when equipment is stolen.

The embarrassing revelation comes as the trust is desperately trying to win Foundation Status from the Government - granting it full financial independence.

One of the first orders issued by the trust's new IT director Tony Hetherinton was a crackdown on security to stem the disappearance of high-tech equipment.

He admitted: "Computer theft has been an on-going problem at the trust. We have developed a new procedure and we are taking action against the problem."

Since taking up his post in Feb ruary Mr Hetherington has ordered all computers in public areas are bolted to the floor.

He has also issued an urgent edict to staff that they hide lap tops away in drawers and lock their offices when they are not using them.

Another innovation adopted by Mr Hetherington is to start counting the losses, but despite the radical new anti-theft measures put in place £3,325 worth of computers have already been pilfered from the trust since the start of the financial year in April.

Trust spokeswoman Sarah Eastman said: "It's not the staff taking them, it's members of the public taking them from public areas of the hospital.

"The problem areas are the open ones where people just walk in and take computers with them."

But she admitted: "There are so many people in a hospital it may be hard to stop a determined thief."

In recent years items taking flight from the hospital also included a large, ornamental metal ball and a bird table.

Under the Data Protection Act organisations holding personal information can be fined up to £5,000 if they are found to have breached their security obligations.

It is also an offence to procure or disclose such details without the permission of the person to whom they refer.

But Miss Eastman added: "We have a clear policy of not storing patient confidential information on local drives. So, if someone has a stolen computer they wouldn't be able to access that type of information.

"They will just have access to word documents and spreadsheets."