Hospital chiefs at Preston and Chorley are looking into the possibility of trialling a system where tagging devices are used on patients likely to abscond or harm themselves.

If bosses do decide to go ahead with the scheme, they say it will only be used on patients who "lack capacity" and present a high risk of leaving wards without the knowledge of staff.

They stressed that if the system is put in place, the use of tagging devices would only be undertaken following strict assessment.

Police resources are regularly tied up looking for vulnerable patients who go walkabout from hospital. One police source said that on average one patient goes missing from the Royal Preston Hospital site every day.

Many are elderly and confused or have mental health issues.

Some patients go missing after booking in at Royal Preston Hospital's A&E, while others are from the Avondale psychiatric unit on the site, which is run by Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Police officers are called to the scene to hunt them down.

The police source said: "An awful lot of people go missing from the hospital site and hundreds of police hours are wasted looking for these vulnerable patients who have health issues.

"It then becomes the responsibility of care of the police and a number of officers are sent to streets near the hospital each time a patient goes missing.

"This tagging system sounds a great concept and will save a lot of police resources."

Beverley Page-Banks of the Central Lancashire and Fylde branch of the Alzheimer's Society, said: "New technology is available and could offer benefits to people with dementia and their carers.

"But there is a balance to strike between empowering people and restricting their movement. Technology can certainly never be used as an alternative for high quality dementia care."

Human rights campaigners Liberty are concerned that new technology could be used as a "quick fix" instead of more expensive care.

Sabina Frediani, campaigns co-ordinator for Liberty, said: "A debate about better care for vulnerable patients is a good thing, but technical gimmicks often provide cheap fixes.

"An electronic tag cannot care for a vulnerable person and might only register their disappearance when it is too late."

Sue Reed, nursing director at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Preston and Chorley and South Ribble hospitals, said: "Protecting patients under the care of the trust must always be a key priority.

"A decision on this matter will not be made until there has been a full assessment of the potential benefits and information has been obtained about such systems in place elsewhere."

Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services in the area, confirmed it does not currently use tagging on patients at any of its units.

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