Second arrest made after hospital thefts

A second arrest has been made following a series of alleged thefts from Waikato Hospital.

A 42-year-old man was arrested by Matamata police on Friday, and a staff swipe card and two sets of hospital keys were found at his home, police said.

The man would appear in Morrinsville District Court next month on dishonesty charges.

A 20-year-old hospital security guard was arrested last Tuesday after allegedly stealing a number of hospital cellphones.

The guard was allegedly caught on security camera, police said.

Police recovered four mobile telephones from his Huntly house, and the man admitted taking another, a police spokesman said.

He was due to appear in Huntly District Court this week.

Over the past three years, internal audits carried out by Waikato District Health Board found $170,000 worth of theft and fraud had taken place at the hospital.

An external audit of service providers to the DHB uncovered almost $200,000 worth of fraud, a spokeswoman for the DHB said.

Chief executive Craig Climo said the recent introduction of a "campus cop" on the hospital groups, working closely with a newly appointed security manager, had helped in the security crackdown.

The campus cop was an initiative established in Hamilton in the 1980s but later discontinued.

- NZPA