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200 patients at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital reported AWOL

Nearly 200 patients from New Cross Hospital have been reported missing over the past five years.

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The hospital rang the police 178 times between 2010 and August 2015 to report a missing patient, but all of the patient either returned or were found safe.

According to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act by the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust, 2013 had the highest number of missing patients with 46 – an average of just under four a month.

The number of missing patients almost quadrupled between 2010 and 2014, but has seen a decrease so far this year.

In 2010 there were 12 missing patients reported to the police but this had increased by 31 to 43 by 2014. There were 42 patients reported missing in 2012 and 27 in 2011.

So far this year there have been eight phone calls to the police about missing patients. This figure is accurate as of August 13.

This averages out at one missing patient a month meaning the total for the year would be 12 – the same number as 2012 but a dramatic decrease on 2014.

Wolverhampton councillor Elias Mattu, who is the cabinet member for adults and a member of the health and wellbeing board, branded the figures 'totally unacceptable'.

He said: "This is something that needs immediate attention. It is totally unacceptable and needs to be sorted out.

"Its been a problem for some time now. This is something that the NHS needs to tackle seriously.

"It must be terrible for the families and relatives and I hope that a solution is found quickly to this terrible problem.

"They need to tighten the security around the hospital and in the wards everybody needs to be aware.

"These people are vulnerable. I know that funding is tight but I think we have a duty of care whether they're in care homes or hospitals, they need to be properly safe guarded.

"They need better care, I don't think enough is being done and I hope that more will be done."

Gwen Nuttall, Chief Operating Officer at the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "The safety and well-being of our patients is of paramount importance to the trust. On occasion that a patient does leave from a ward a sweep of the surrounding area is conducted.

"If the patient is still missing and is deemed to be a patient at risk due to the nature of their condition, at this point security is called and if the patient cannot be located after an hour then the police are called. On every occasion a patient has gone missing they have been subsequently found and returned to their ward."

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