Staff from the Royal Free Hospital will be the first from London NHS trusts to work as special police officers in an effort to reduce crime on the premises.

HospitalWatch, a scheme run by the Metropolitan Police, was launched yesterday at the hospital in Pond Street, Hampstead, and support staff have already expressed an interest in working as the voluntary special officers.

The volunteers will be released from their daily duties to receive in-depth Met training to become special constables, after which they will patrol one day a fortnight alongside experienced officers to tackle crime in and around their hospital.

Andrew Way, chief executive of the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, said: "Security is a very important issue for our hospitals.

"A great deal of work has been done within the trust to improve the security of staff and patients, and we are delighted to be signing up to the HospitalWatch scheme.

"We hope that doing so will help to reassure local concerns about crime within the Royal Free and to raise the profile of security within the organisation."

Between January and October, 271 crimes were committed in or around the hospital, including theft, assault and possession of drugs, but the numbers per month have been reducing steadily since June.

HospitalWatch is one of several initiatives undertaken to improve security at the hospital. Chris John, the trust's security manager, has been meeting weekly with officers to discuss crime and security issues, which has led to the police posting at least one officer at the hospital every day.

Last year, the trust appointed its own in-house security team to further improve links between security officers and trust staff, and since November 1, a dedicated security officer has patrolled the hospital's A&E department between 10pm and 6am.