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University Hospital of North Staffordshire has become what is thought to be the first trust in the country to have its own dedicated police officer.
He works in a new police post on the City General site. Police in Stoke-on-Trent have joined forces with community safety partners and the NHS to fund a new programme to reduce crime and to improve community safety in the areaโs main
hospital.
The initiative is funded by a โReward Grantโ which the City became eligible to apply for thanks to the reductions in burglary achieved in the last couple of years.
PC Steve Wilson has been appointed as a full-time officer for the hospital, covering the Royal Infirmary, the City General and Central Outpatients. He will also provide a service to the neighbouring Harplands Hospital. When he is off-duty other officers will cover his role. The local neighbourhood policing teams for the Hartshill, Penkhull and Trent Vale areas will also be based in the new police post.
Steve does not provide an emergency police response, but works with the Trustโs security advisor and local security management specialist to follow up crimes in the hospital, help with investigations and reporting and help to solve crime-related problems as they emerge. Steve has already served the hospital and the wider community for four years as the local beat officer. He says: โI have been a community police officer covering the Trust sites since 2002 so I have had a lot to do with hospital staff in that time. Now, though, I have the opportunity to focus solely on the hospitals and get to know staff so that I will be able to provide a different sort of service. In particular I enjoy problem-solving and look forward to getting to grips with some ongoing security issues to make life better for staff, patients and visitors.โ
A satellite police post at the City General will provide a base for Steve to work from and for staff to drop in to discuss security concerns.
Bill Jeynes, the Trustโs local security management specialist, worked with Inspector John Horrocks of Stoke Policing Unit to bring about this dedicated post. He says: โWe have had an excellent working relationship with our local police force, but this post will make co-operation and liaison even more effective and, as a result, we expect to bring to book more criminals who see the hospital and our staff as easy pickings.โ
Working with the Trustโs security staff, Steve has had success in securing ASBOs and injunctions to keep known criminals off site. He intends to continue this work to help make staff feel more confident in their place of work.
University Hospital is considered to be an example of good practice by the NHS Security Management Service (NHS SMS). Peter Dorrington, NHS SMS Casework Officer, says: โThe trust takes crime on its sites very seriously and this is very encouraging. The trust is putting a solid foundation in place to improve security โ a local security management specialist has been appointed and trained, the local police force has been engaged and there is a good working relationship with the regional NHS Security Management Service.โ
