Woman's £1,200 necklace goes missing while a patient at Coventry University Hospital

[dutchman]

Filomena Alonge, 86, found her necklace was missing the day after being admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties



Police are investigating after a £1,200 necklace went missing from an elderly patient at University Hospital in Coventry.

Filomena Alonge, aged 86, who lives in Cheylesmore , was admitted to hospital on Easter Sunday with breathing difficulties.

But when her daughter Maria Alonge, from Binley , went to visit her the next day, she saw that a necklace she had been wearing was gone.

Maria said: “I had been sat with her for a few minutes when she pointed at her neck and I realised one of her necklaces was gone.

“She kept apologising and saying she didn’t know where it had gone.

“We looked everywhere in her room but it was nowhere to be seen.

“The necklace cost me over £1,000, and I can’t just let this go lightly.

Filomena was moved to a different ward in the early hours of Easter Monday and Maria thinks this is when the necklace disappeared.

Maria said: “As a woman with dementia, she isn’t going to know where anything goes if it does disappear.

“I spent a lot of money on that necklace and I can’t see how it has just disappeared out of nowhere.

“The nurses that were on duty have all said they have no idea where it has gone, but we must look at all angles of how it can just go from my mum’s neck.

“It’s not the first time she has had something stolen while she has been in hospital, and I just want an answer as to where this necklace has gone.”

She said: “We have covered all corners of loss, I wish someone would take responsibility for whatever has happened.

“I will not stop until we have solved the problem.

“I have been told numerous reasons as to why the necklace went missing.

“I’ve been told it could have gone missing when it was taken off when my mum showered or mixed up in the laundry.”

Professor Mark Radford, chief nursing officer at University Hospital, said: “This was a very distressing incident for our patient and as the security of their possessions is extremely important to us, as soon as staff realised the necklace was missing they immediately began a search of the ward.

“This included checking the dirty linen bags and the drain in the shower.

“When CCTV found nothing suspicious we asked the family to report the incident to the police.

“We have fully co-operated with the police and we will continue to help them in any way we can.

“However, hospitals are busy places and valuables can sometimes get lost and for this reason we would recommend patients not bring valuables into hospital with them or hand then to relatives or staff for safe keeping.”

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “We visited the hospital as part of our ongoing investigation on April 11th to speak to anyone who may know anything, but at this point we are still continuing to look into it.

“If anyone does have any information, please can they ring 101.”