A FREEDOM of information request shows the trust which runs Oxfordshire’s biggest hospitals has an art collection worth “approximately” £400,000 – all of which have been donated or bought through charitable donations.

But Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUHFT) admitted it is not sure of the exact amount because it does not have an inventory.

The trust, which manages the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford, and the Horton in Banbury, said it owns about 2,000 works.

The trust said as far as it is aware all works of art, such as a horse sculpture at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, were donated and not bought using public money, But responding to a Freedom of Information request from the Oxford Mail this month, the organisation said it does not have a full list of its collection.

Freedom of information officer Valerie Gray said: “The total value or the number of artworks owned by the trust is not known as there is no complete inventory of the art held across the four hospital sites.”

She said putting together a full inventory and valuing all pieces would take several weeks.

Ms Gray added that all art is currently on display except for “a very small number of pieces” which are “unsuitable” or damaged.

The Mail also asked for the value of the trust’s 10 most valuable pieces to which she responded: “While it would be possible to give an estimated value, we are concerned with the obvious theft risk if we were to indicate which these were.”

The estimated £400,0000 value of art is tiny compared to the trust’s operating expenditure for 2014/ 15 of £898m.