Community Life

Nurse Cheryl Moss, from Dagenham

Havering Primary Care Trust (PCT), which runs the hospital, now says the site says it’s “very safe and secure”. The news follows a robbery at the canteen where the day’s takings were stolen.

In a letter to local MP James Brokenshire the PCT said that “since January 2008 there have been only 15 minor incidents.”

“From September 2008 the security company was withdrawn as the number of incidents were low between the hours they operated”.

The letter went on to say that the hospital portering service would now “support the security arrangements on the St George’s Hospital site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week" The PCT has also "increased CCTV cameras on site from 3 to 16" since July.

But the arrangements contrast sharply with security at nearby Queen’s Hospital, which is run by Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Hospitals Trust. A 25-strong security team is employed at the Romford site.

Mr Brokenshire, who is the Conservative MP for Hornchurch says he is “alarmed” by the move and is calling for the security patrols to be reinstated. He says he’ll also be taking up the issue with the Chief Executive of the PCT, Ralph McCormack.

Havering PCT insisted that security is high on it’s agenda and said that “an Associate Director is responsible for monitoring all security issues raised through the reporting process and implementing agreed action plans to address the Trust’s security needs.”