NHS news in brief

Thieves target NHS equipment
Criminal gangs are targeting NHS hospitals to steal medical equipment to sell abroad, according to police and the NHS internal security service. A hospital in York had £300,000 worth of endoscopy equipment used for internal examinations taken in a recent raid, while a hospital in Leicester had some specialist equipment stolen. The University Hospital of North Durham also had a heart scanner worth £35,000 stolen, police said. A spokesman for the NHS Security Management Service said it was working closely with the police and had advised hospitals on how best to protect their equipment. “The theft of such equipment is deplorable and diverts much needed resources away from patient care,†the spokesman said.

NHS dentists show their teeth over contracts
NHS dentists have aired their concern over what they say is a lack of progress towards the agreement of their new contracts. The deadline for the signing of contracts comes at the start of April, and many dentists said they were still none the wiser as to how much NHS work they would be asked to do next year. Stuart Geddes, director of the British Dental Association in Wales, where queues to sign up for free NHS dental treatment have formed in some towns, said the methods being used to set dentists targets for the new contracts were flawed. “There is much uncertainty among practitioners about what they are going to do after April,†he said. “They are not assured of their funding and they are not assured of their workload.â€