Some NHS hospital trusts are contacting exterminators almost every day to tackle plagues of rats and mice at their buildings.
Figures obtained by The Telegraph under Freedom of Information requests reveal that nine of the UK’s 229 NHS trusts had more than 100 call outs in 2022.
The three trusts that had the highest number of call outs were Barts Health NHS Trust, King’s College Trust and Imperial College NHS Trust, all in London, which made almost 800 calls to exterminators between them last year.
Barts had the highest number of call-outs with 277 in 2022, which has seen more than 100 call outs each year since 2017. There have also been reports this year of rodents being spotted in facilities across its buildings, according to The Telegraph.
King’s had 273 call-outs, up from 175 in 2021 and 98 in 2020, while Imperial registered 247, which was actually its lowest number in six years. The trust reportedly made more than 400 call-outs in 2017.
Some NHS hospital trusts are contacting exterminators almost every day to tackle plagues of rats and mice at their buildings (Stock image)
The Telegraph sent FOI requests to more than 130 NHS trusts for figures between 2017 and 2022 and as of writing received 120 replies.
Of these responses, 15 said that they did no have the data available, while 37 had fewer than 10 call-outs to exterminators over rodent related issues in the past year.
Nine trusts, Barts, King’s College, Imperial College, East Kent University, Manchester University, Oxford University, Guy’s and St Thomas’, Hull and East Yorkshire, and Moorfields Eye Hospital, each had more than 100.
London North West University NHS Turst and the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, which had more than 100 call-outs in a previous year since 2017, only saw double figures for the number call-outs in 2022.
The Telegraph also received data on the current number of rodent issues that Barts, had recorded so far this year, which as of the end of August sits at 126.
This reportedly includes cases where rodents have been seen scurrying around the maternity ward, the pharmacy and the X-ray room.
There have also been dead mice spotted in the medical examiner’s office as well as possible dead mice in operating theatres.
Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, told The Telegraph that this ‘Victorian-era problem’ is a result of the ‘Victorian-era infrastructure’ in some of the buildings.
Barts Health Trust is one of London’s largest trusts and encorporates the UK’s oldest hospital, St Bartholomew’s (pictured), which was founded in 1123
He added: ‘It’s no good having world-class facilities and world-class consultants and doctors if you’ve got a building which has got a rodent problem.’
Barts Health Trust is one of London’s largest trusts and encorporates the UK’s oldest hospital, St Bartholomew’s, which was founded in 1123.
A spokesman for Barts Health NHS Trust said: ‘We take the health and safety of our patients, staff, and visitors extremely seriously and these figures demonstrate our proactive approach in ensuring that all sightings of any kind of rodent activity is recorded and dealt with effectively.
‘We provide training for all our staff in how to identify potential rodent activity, how to arrange for immediate removal and prevention action from our specialist 24-7 call-out contractor.’
King’s College, Imperial College, East Kent University, Manchester University, Oxford University, Guy’s and St Thomas’, Hull and East Yorkshire, and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trusts have all been contacted for comment.
