UK HOSPITAL COMPUTERS STOLEN Hospital is hotbed for thefts of equipment - Peterborough Today:
Wednesday, 25th February 2009
Hospital is hotbed for thefts of equipment
Published Date: 25 February 2009
HOSPITALS in Peterborough and Stamford have been revealed to be hotbeds of petty theft – with everything from cables to computers stolen by light-fingered culprits in three years.
New figures have shown that scrap metal was stolen from a skip at Stamford hospital, three doppler sonic aids that monitor a baby's heartbeat were pilfered from Peterborough District Hospital and several computers were also taken.
The most expensive theft was a mains electric cable and earthing cable, worth £3,000.
It was stolen from a contractor at Stamford Hospital.
The total value of items taken from Peterborough District Hospital in Thorpe Road, Edith Cavell Hospital, in Bretton, and Stamford Hospital between 2006 and 2008 was £3,563.50.
Medical equipment that was targeted by thieves included syringes and pocket resuscitation masks, worth £30.
Today, a spokeswoman for Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it took security and safety seriously and staff were asked to be vigilant about protecting hospital property and patient records at all times.
"The trust experiences a low number of thefts and loss of equipment compared to other trusts.
"However, when equipment is stolen or lost, it can be costly and inconvenient to replace", she said.
"Hospitals are public places and equipment, for example, computers, are often appealing to thieves.
"For this reason, strict procedures and systems are in place so that stolen computers cannot be used to access patient records."
She said electronic patient records were stored only on "server" computers which held information that could only be accessed via computers connected to the internal network.
Patient data was not stored on desktop computers, the spokeswoman said.
Access to records was available only to authorised staff via a secure password-controlled system.
All data from decommissioned computers, (those that were no longer used within the trust) was wiped before they were disposed of, and all laptops now had encrypted hard drives, she said.
"There are some reports of handheld doppler sonic aids being misplaced or stolen from Peterborough Maternity Unit," she said.
"The maternity unit uses hand-held doppler sonic aids to monitor an unborn baby's heartbeat.
"It is thought that women and their families are often the people responsible for taking the dopplers.
"This is because they want to be able to listen to their baby's heartbeat when they are not in hospital and allow others who have not already heard it, such as other family members, to do so."
Comment: Page 12
The most expensive theft was a mains electric cable and earthing cable, worth £3,000.
It was stolen from a contractor at Stamford Hospital.
The total value of items taken from Peterborough District Hospital in Thorpe Road, Edith Cavell Hospital, in Bretton, and Stamford Hospital between 2006 and 2008 was £3,563.50.
Medical equipment that was targeted by thieves included syringes and pocket resuscitation masks, worth £30.
Today, a spokeswoman for Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it took security and safety seriously and staff were asked to be vigilant about protecting hospital property and patient records at all times.
"The trust experiences a low number of thefts and loss of equipment compared to other trusts.
"However, when equipment is stolen or lost, it can be costly and inconvenient to replace", she said.
"Hospitals are public places and equipment, for example, computers, are often appealing to thieves.
"For this reason, strict procedures and systems are in place so that stolen computers cannot be used to access patient records."
She said electronic patient records were stored only on "server" computers which held information that could only be accessed via computers connected to the internal network.
Patient data was not stored on desktop computers, the spokeswoman said.
Access to records was available only to authorised staff via a secure password-controlled system.
All data from decommissioned computers, (those that were no longer used within the trust) was wiped before they were disposed of, and all laptops now had encrypted hard drives, she said.
"There are some reports of handheld doppler sonic aids being misplaced or stolen from Peterborough Maternity Unit," she said.
"The maternity unit uses hand-held doppler sonic aids to monitor an unborn baby's heartbeat.
"It is thought that women and their families are often the people responsible for taking the dopplers.
"This is because they want to be able to listen to their baby's heartbeat when they are not in hospital and allow others who have not already heard it, such as other family members, to do so."
Comment: Page 12
The full article contains 416 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
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- Last Updated: 25 February 2009 9:06 AM
- Source: Peterborough ET
- Location: Peterborough
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