Hospitals hit back over pest cases

Statistics released under a Freedom of Information request showed pest controllers were called out to NHS Trust hospitals some 20,000 times over the past two years.

The Tories contacted all 171 NHS Trusts in England and of the 127 that responded, almost all were said to have experienced some problems. Incidents have included rats in maternity wards, wasps and fleas in neo-natal units and maggots in patients' slippers.

But hospital trusts defended their record. Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, which was ranked third worst in the survey, said the number of incidents recorded was a reflection of how seriously staff take pest problems. A spokeswoman said: "Common calls in Portsmouth are to deal with ants or, being a coastal city, dead seagulls or pigeons in the grounds. The number of calls logged reflects the proactive approach adopted by the Trust as successful pest control relies on early identification of potential problems.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust recorded the highest number of pest control call outs between January 2006 and April 2008. John Simpson, director of estates and facilities management at the hospitals, said that trusts are likely to have recorded and reported figures differently and therefore the table may not be comparing like-for-like data.

"These figures must be put into context. It goes without saying that, as the fourth largest Trust in the country, our hospitals are bigger than most others around the country and therefore our figures should be compared with trusts with similar-sized estates rather than smaller acute trusts" he said.

Seven out of 10 Trusts called in pest control officers more than 50 times since January 2006. The figures showed that 80% of NHS trusts reported problems with ants, 66% with rats and 77% with mice.

Cockroaches were said to have been reported at 59% of trusts, fleas or other biting insects at 65% and bed bugs at 24%.

A further 6% of trusts reported infestations of maggots. Many of the problems were said to have occurred in clinical areas.

Malcolm Padley, a spokesman for Rentokil, which provides pest control for hospitals nationwide, said that large buildings with grounds often had particular problems with pests. "We have definitely seen an increase in the number of call outs about bed bugs and rodents nationally. It is hard to tell whether there has been an increase in the number of pests or whether there is better awareness and greater reporting of pest control issues."