POLICE officers are patrolling the corridors of Bronglais Hospital on the lookout for trouble and to reassure patients, staff and visitors.

It follows a successful trial scheme at the Prince Phillip Hospital in Llanelli where PCSO Gary Payne has been based for the past 14 months.

During this time he has dealt with reports of missing people, minor RTCs on the hospital grounds and welfare concerns, among other incidents.

There is now a PCSO presence at Bronglais, Withybush, Bro Cerwen and Glangwili following positive feedback from staff and patients.

The rationale behind basing PCSOs at hospitals across Hywel Dda University Health Board came from data reviews, which show hospitals are regularly in the top 10 call locations to the police.

The aim is to reassure patients, staff and visitors, to safeguard vulnerable people within the community who visit the hospital, to provide a quicker response from an officer on the grounds, and reduce the number of calls made from the premises.

Speaking about his role, PCSO Payne said: “The main benefit I have seen is a quicker reaction to incidents because I am on site. In the first two days of being here there was a report of a patient having altered a prescription to get more medication than he had been prescribed. I heard the call come in, made my way to the bus stop and detained a person within 11 minutes.”

See this week’s south editions for the full story, in shops and online now