York and Scarborough hospital trust spends £65k on pest control

Pests tackled by York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals Trust include rats and cockroaches.

A North Yorkshire hospital trust has spent more than £65,000 on pest control since 2021, it has emerged.

Figures were released after a freedom of information (FOI) request made by the Liberal Democrats to York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals Trust.

Lib Dem MP Daisy Cooper said it was "proof hospitals are not up to scratch", with rats and cockroaches among the pests dealt with.

A trust spokesperson said they had "an effective pest control policy".

The FOI request found pests controlled also included silverfish, ants and mice.

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals Trust has several sites, including York Hospital

Over the last year, 56 pest incidents were reported at hospital buildings run by the trust, while there were 47 in 2022/23 and 60 in 2021/22.

In 2023/24, £35,630 was spent in dealing with pests, with £21,499 spent in 2022/23 and £8,597.50 was sent between 2021 and 2022.

These amounts added up to a total of £65,726.50 over the last three years.

York Central Labour MP Rachael Maskell said it was "unacceptable" that the pests were "finding their way into our NHS".

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said individual NHS organisations were "legally responsible for maintaining their estates, including pest control".

'Rapid action'

"Patient safety is vital, and the government has invested significant sums to upgrade and modernise NHS buildings," the spokesperson added.

A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "Like other hospitals, we have an effective pest control policy that anticipates and manages this issue.

"When incidents are reported we take rapid action, using experts, to quickly identify and deal with the issue so that staff and patients are not affected.

"This is followed through with surveillance to avoid and minimise pest incidents and minimize hazards. The majority of call outs have been to deal with ants, silverfish, and other insects."