Security staff at Ealing Hospital have begun referring rough sleepers to outreach workers as part of efforts to manage overnight safety on the site.
The team uses the Streetlink app to flag people who may need support, passing details to the homelessness charity St Mungo’s.
Luke Redhead, security manager at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust (LNWH), said: “We report around 40 to 50 incidents a month. One of the most common issues is people tailgating staff into areas that are closed to the public after 9pm.”
He said people were often “looking for somewhere to sleep for the night”, with stairwells and the blood test area among the most common locations.
Mr Redhead said some people did not want assistance, but those who did were offered help via outreach services. He added that numbers had fallen recently, partly because emergency shelters open when temperatures drop below freezing.
The trust launched the Gemini project last May after recording more than 100 incidents a month. Mr Redhead said incidents had since more than halved, helped by targeted patrols and joint working with police.
