SECURITY is to be stepped up at one of Northern Ireland's busiest hospitals after four wheels were stolen off a nurse's car, which was parked at the site while she worked a shift.
She had parked her car in Craigavon Area Hospital at around 7.20am on Sunday with the theft discovered at around 3pm by a colleague.
The Southern Health Trust said yesterday it is "reviewing security arrangements" and described the theft as "shocking".
Details were posted on Facebook by a relative of the nurse, along with photographs of the red Volkswagon golf GTD car jacked up on large stones in the hospital car park.
It recounted how the nurse "on a day shift was informed on their ward by Craigavon police that their car parked in the hospital grounds had its four wheels stolen.
"How many passers by had walked past and ignored the fact that a bright red car had its wheels stolen and was rocking on two large stones under its door sills, not until 3pm did another member of staff notify the police.
"Hospital staff work long hard hours caring for the sick, the last thing they expect is the local Police to come to their ward to bring them to the car park to show them what thieves have done to their vehicle.
"Please share to make staff, patients, visitors, the general public aware that even parking your car at your safe place of work now isn’t safe.
"For those staff members who treat us all in Hospital when we are ill or can’t help ourselves, needing their transport from work after a long hard shift to see what has been done to their vehicle to take them home.
"Please, please share and maybe with a little luck no-one else who spend long hard hours caring for others won’t have to go through a similar fate as this one".
A spokeswoman for the Southern Health & Social Care Trust said: "We are very concerned about this incident on the Craigavon Area Hospital site. For this to happen to one of our nurses whilst they were at work providing care to ill patients, is shocking. We are working with the PSNI on this matter and reviewing security arrangements on the site".
The PSNI described what had happened as "particularly disgusting".
A spokesman said: "Our NHS colleagues do tremendous work, around the clock 24/7, 365 days a year. From long term care to urgent life saving interventions, they are so often the ones standing between us and death.
"It is particularly disgusting therefore to hear of an attack on one of our nurses at Craigavon hospital, where all four wheels of her red golf GTD were removed while she was at work, caring for those in need.
"Someone must have seen something, or know where those wheels are now.
"If you work in a garage and you've been offered these cheap since, and you can assist - do the right thing.
"If you know who was responsible, phone us on 101, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."
