Teh One Who Knocks
01-12-2015, 12:49 PM
By Thomas Burrows for MailOnline
http://i.imgur.com/xnJLsHl.jpg
Hospitals have been forced to lock toys to cots with bicycle locks after a spate of thefts from children's wards.
Father-of-four Dean Beddis, 49, discovered that toys were chained to the cots when he was with his two year-old-son Soren at Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital.
Doctors were treating Soren for bronchiolitis - a chest infection that affects babies - on the Bluebell Ward in the hospital.
But when the two-year-old tried to play with a musical toy on his cot he found it was locked up.
Mr Beddis, who runs Newport's Kriminal Records in the town's market, said: 'These toys are there for kids who are seriously ill.
'They're provided by the hospital and people are stealing them. I was shocked to see that a children's toy had a bike lock on it attaching it to the cot.
'I was talking to the nurses about how disgusting it was that they had to do that because they were saying people had been stealing them.'
He also discovered that electrical goods had been stolen from the hospital.
'People had also been stealing TVs from the parents' waiting room in the children's ward,' he said.
'There was no TV there when I was last there because it had been stolen.
'Going onto a ward and stealing toys while the hospital staff are looking after their children is a sad reflection on society.'
Staff went on to tell him thieves were also stealing valuable medical equipment.
He said: 'They even had people stealing doctor's things while they were in surgery - taking clothes and all the rest of it, whether that be valuables or otherwise.'
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board runs 14 hospitals covering Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport, Torfaen and southern Powys.
'Unfortunately we do get toys and games taken from our hospitals,' a spokesman said.
'It is not a regular occurrence but we do encourage staff to secure and lock away some of the more popular and more expensive items.
'As with any large buildings open to the public we advise visitors and our own staff to be vigilant with valuables. Our hospitals have full CCTV coverage and security on site at all times.'
This is not the first time children's toys have been targeted in hospitals.
In April last year, thousands of pounds worth of toys donated to sick children at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospitals were stolen.
Gadgets and goods including a Nintendo Wii, iPads, board games, phones, shoes, and cash were taken from Britain's largest hospital for unwell children.
http://i.imgur.com/xnJLsHl.jpg
Hospitals have been forced to lock toys to cots with bicycle locks after a spate of thefts from children's wards.
Father-of-four Dean Beddis, 49, discovered that toys were chained to the cots when he was with his two year-old-son Soren at Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital.
Doctors were treating Soren for bronchiolitis - a chest infection that affects babies - on the Bluebell Ward in the hospital.
But when the two-year-old tried to play with a musical toy on his cot he found it was locked up.
Mr Beddis, who runs Newport's Kriminal Records in the town's market, said: 'These toys are there for kids who are seriously ill.
'They're provided by the hospital and people are stealing them. I was shocked to see that a children's toy had a bike lock on it attaching it to the cot.
'I was talking to the nurses about how disgusting it was that they had to do that because they were saying people had been stealing them.'
He also discovered that electrical goods had been stolen from the hospital.
'People had also been stealing TVs from the parents' waiting room in the children's ward,' he said.
'There was no TV there when I was last there because it had been stolen.
'Going onto a ward and stealing toys while the hospital staff are looking after their children is a sad reflection on society.'
Staff went on to tell him thieves were also stealing valuable medical equipment.
He said: 'They even had people stealing doctor's things while they were in surgery - taking clothes and all the rest of it, whether that be valuables or otherwise.'
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board runs 14 hospitals covering Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport, Torfaen and southern Powys.
'Unfortunately we do get toys and games taken from our hospitals,' a spokesman said.
'It is not a regular occurrence but we do encourage staff to secure and lock away some of the more popular and more expensive items.
'As with any large buildings open to the public we advise visitors and our own staff to be vigilant with valuables. Our hospitals have full CCTV coverage and security on site at all times.'
This is not the first time children's toys have been targeted in hospitals.
In April last year, thousands of pounds worth of toys donated to sick children at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospitals were stolen.
Gadgets and goods including a Nintendo Wii, iPads, board games, phones, shoes, and cash were taken from Britain's largest hospital for unwell children.