THE NHS have warned of the danger of stealing hand sanitiser from hospitals following a spate of thefts at Worcestershire A&E department.

Vicky Morris, chief nurse for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said:“Hand sanitiser gel is very important in hospitals to ensure we can protect not just from coronavirus but a wide range of potentially very serious infections.

“Stealing bottles of hand sanitiser, or taking large quantities from dispensers in public areas could create serious risks especially for our most vulnerable patients. So we would encourage anyone visiting our hospitals to only use these in a sensible manner when entering wards or clinical areas.”

The official advice is still just to keep hands clean by washing them for more than 20 seconds with warm water and soap.