An engagement ring worth more than £4,000 and £1,000 in cash are just some of the items suspected to have been stolen from sick patients in Tayside last year.
The engagement ring, valued at £4,490, was taken from Ninewells Hospital, while a £500 wedding band disappeared from the same building.
A digital hearing aid worth £3000 also went missing from the Dundee hospital.
Data released by NHS Tayside showed the high-value suspected thefts were among a catalogue of items reported missing by visitors to local hospitals.
In the past few years, some of the other items that have gone missing from bedsides and communal areas include iPods, dentures worth £350, trainers, spectacles, suitcases full of belongings, and underwear.
Murray Royal, Perth Royal Infirmary, Royal Victoria, as well as Crieff and Blairgowrie Community Hospitals all saw items worth several hundred pounds go missing.
A number of reports of lead being stolen from NHS buildings were also recorded over the past four years, with the highest value — £7000 — taken from Kings Cross Hospital in 2014/15.
The £1000 in cash was taken from Dundee grandad Roy Gibson while he lay in bed at Ninewells hospital in October.
The 79-year-old said he had an envelope containing the cash taken by two people purporting to be nurses who told him they were moving his money to a “safer place” and would return, but never did.
In September the previous year, a callous thief stole £200 from the purse of Dundee woman Davina Parfitt, 70, while she was receiving life-saving treatment at Ninewells’ A&E department.
In 2016, Ninewells healthcare assistant Shannon Mills was convicted of stealing a total of £150 from three sick elderly patients.
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “NHS Tayside works closely with Police Scotland and regularly promotes the message that ‘security is everyone’s responsibility’ and both staff and members of the public can all play their part in reducing theft and crime across all of our sites.
“The public should be reassured that every effort is made to ensure the safety of their personal belongings whilst they are in hospital. Staff and members of the public are advised not to bring any valuable items or large sums of money into hospital.
“Staff are encouraged to report all incidents of missing items no matter how small.
NHS Tayside takes any alleged incident of theft seriously and works closely with Police Scotland and acts on their advice as appropriate.
“NHS Tayside has one of the largest Board property footprints in the country. Similarly to other large organisations, NHS Tayside has security arrangements in place at a number of sites to keep the premises safe and minimise the risk of damage, unauthorised access and theft.”
