Rats and Cockroaches Giving Hospital Staff the Creeps

NHS hospitals are plagued by rats, cockroaches, and sewage leaks, according to a survey by the public services union, UNISON. 

Around one in six hospital staff said they had spotted vermin inside buildings in the past year, while a similar proportion reported other infestations like silverfish, ants, and cockroaches.

More than half of NHS employees reported seeing buckets catching leaking water in their workplace over the past 12 months, while almost a quarter had witnessed leaking sewage.

Helga Pile, head of health at UNISON, said the findings painted “a worrying picture of an NHS system that’s falling apart at the seams and in need of a serious overhaul.”

Between 26 February and 14 March, the union polled 8794 hospital workers about the state of buildings at their workplaces as part of a wider survey of health workers.

Hygiene Concerns and Structural Decay

The survey revealed that 17% of staff believed their workplace was unsafe. Nearly a quarter (23%) had witnessed sewage leaks, while over half (52%) had seen buckets collecting water from leaking ceilings.

The survey identified other structural issues. Toilets were frequently out of order, with 28% reporting long closures of public facilities, while 30% witnessed broken staff loos.

Nearly half (47%) of respondents found lifts that were out of order. More than a quarter (27%) complained of defective lighting, and 21% warned that ceilings were crumbling.

A total of 17% of respondents believed the buildings they worked in were unsafe.

Damp conditions and unrepaired damage may be contributing to the pest problem. One hospital worker in northwest England said rats had entered a room storing sterile instruments, despite bait boxes being placed around the hospital. The same staff member described a leaking waste pipe that had caused a foul odour for over a year.

Another worker reported seeing mouse droppings on the floor and on desks in reception, in staff breakrooms, and in the sterile instrument storage room.

Other reported perils included a collapsed ceilings and buckets collecting leaking rainwater, reported as a trip hazard by a hospital domestic staff member in Scotland.

In February this year, a mouse was filmed scurrying through a hospital ward at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham. In 2023, a Freedom of Information request revealed that Medway NHS Foundation Trust’s pest control services had dealt with 215 call outs for rodents in the previous year. In the financial year 2022-2023, the trust spent £28,276 on pest control.

Also in 2023, it was widely reported that operations were suspended at Clatterbridge Hospital in Wirral to enable deep cleaning after sightings of a mouse.

“If operations are cancelled and wards closed because of pests and sewage leaks, delays and waiting times will only get worse,” Pile warned.

Maintenance Backlog

In October last year, NHS Digital estimated that £13.8 billion was needed for “backlog maintenance” – urgent repairs required to restore hospitals to safe conditions. This exceeded the annual cost of running the NHS estate, which stood at £13.6 billion.

At the time, Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, noted in a statement that “eye-watering” sums were needed just to patch up buildings and equipment across hospitals and other NHS infrastructure. 

Pile stressed that hospitals should not resemble “a crumbling Dickensian relic” and called for urgent investment to bring NHS facilities into the 21st century.

Dr Rob Hicks is a retired NHS doctor. A well-known TV and radio broadcaster, he has written three books and has regularly contributed to national newspapers, magazines, and online. He is based in the UK.