Burglars stole 19 computers from three different departments in the largest theft from Barnet Hospital for more than five years.

The computers, worth around £20,000, were taken from the physiotherapy, fracture clinic and outpatient departments, which had all been locked over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said the computers had been ripped from special fittings securing them to their desks.

She said: "When people came back from the weekend on Tuesday morning, they discovered the thefts and immediately reported them to the police, who were satisfied with the criminal prevention strategies in place."

No patient information was stored on the computers, as records are all accessed on a shared network which the computers were linked up to.

The spokeswoman added: "It has been a bit of a shock. We do occasionally have thefts but nothing as large as this, at least in the last five years."

She said patient care had not been affected by the thefts, and hoped the computers would be replaced within the next few weeks.

As a result of the thefts, an extra security guard has been put on duty for night and weekend shifts.

April 28, 2003 16:30