Thousands of pounds worth of equipment has been stolen from NHS Lothian since 2007 a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
Items stolen include an eye machine, a security camera and several computers.
The figure of stolen goods may be much higher than £24,000 as the NHS did not provide figures for many items.
The Scotsman report:
Last year, four wooden patio chairs worth £300 were taken from the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, a wooden park bench was stolen from St John’s Hospital, a £500 camera which included a picture of a patient was pocketed and one brazen thief took a security camera at the Western General Hospital.
Since 2007, ten desktop PCs and 14 laptops were stolen from the health board, while 29 memory sticks were lost.
Some of the items may have contained confidential patient details but NHS Lothian said all electrical equipment, including memory sticks, was encrypted so that records were not accessible if it fell into the wrong hands.