LIFE-SAVING medical equipment valued at £300,000 has been stolen from a hospital.

The endoscopes were taken in an early-morning raid on York Hospital.

Doctors fear the equipment may have been stolen to order by professional thieves.

A stolen staff swipe card was used to enter the building on December 19.

Danny Morgan, director of facilities at the hospital, said: "It was a very professional job and we are not sure how it was carried out.

"The area is very secure and can only be entered by swipe card. We have since discovered that a card was stolen and used in the early hours of December 19, when we know its owner was not in the hospital.

"We are now desperately trying to replace that equipment. We have had great co-operation from the manufacturers, who are loaning us some equipment and we have borrowed some equipment from our friends in Harrogate as well.

"There is a feeling of disgust that they would target essential medical equipment.

"Everyone is rallying round. There has been some disruption to lists, but urgent diagnostic endoscopy is carrying on as usual."

Endoscopes are long fibre-optic tubes that have a camera and a light on the end and allow doctors to see inside the human body.

Although much of the cost to replace the equipment will be covered by insurance, the hospital will still have to pay a large excess.

York is believed to be the 30th hospital in the country to have had this kind of equipment stolen.

Experts say the merchandise may be bound for Eastern Europe.

In July, a heart scanner worth £35,000 was taken from the cardiology unit of the University Hospital of North Durham.

At the time, police said the equipment may have been stolen to order for a foreign hospital.

Mike Proctor, director of nursing in York, said: "We have heard from our insurers that several other hospitals have been targeted in this way.

"We had to cancel one list of patients on the morning that we discovered the theft, but we are very grateful for the help of other hospitals, especially Harrogate."

PC Chris Poole, from North Yorkshire Police, said: "We are investigating a theft of high-value equipment from the hospital.

"At the moment, we are trying to collate details of similar incidents and share it with all other forces."