Security measures improved after hospital stabbing

A woman was treated at the hospital after she was stabbed and robbed in its car park

Work to improve CCTV and lighting in a hospital car park has been accelerated after a member of staff was stabbed.

Essex Police has been investigating after the woman was attacked and robbed at Basildon Hospital in July.

Hospital chief Matthew Hopkins said he had "brought forward" planned safety measures at the site, including extra security patrols.

"We will continue to do our best to protect our patients, staff and visitors across all our sites," he said.

The victim was treated at the hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries after being stabbed in the stomach early on 15 July.

Police said last month that no arrest had been made but "a number of targeted lines of inquiry" were ongoing.

Matthew Hopkins has called on the police to be more visible at the hospital

Mr Hopkins, chief executive of the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said work to improve CCTV and lighting in the car park would be completed "very soon".

He told BBC Essex the stabbing was a "very unexpected incident" and that brighter lighting with further coverage would improve safety.

"We can’t always control the behaviours of people that come to our hospitals and there is inevitably a finite resource that we’re dealing with," Mr Hopkins added.

"The key thing we want to ensure is our hospitals are as secure as possible."

'Really shocking'

The chief executive said he had asked the police to be "more visible" on site, along with the hospital's security team.

"These incidents are rare but they do unfortunately happen, but our hospitals are open for business," he added.

Speaking after the stabbing, Unison regional organiser Sam Older said the attack was "really shocking".

He added that it was important staff working anti-social hours were afforded peace of mind when leaving the hospital.

Essex Police has been contacted for an updated comment.