120 CALLOUTS TO WARD OFF PESTS AT HOSPITAL €30k spent trying get rid of rodents, ants and silverfish
PEST control companies attended Cork University Hospital more than 120 times last year to battle rodent and creepy crawlie infestations.
The facility spent more than €30,000 on pest control as insects were found in a neonatal respiratory room, a blood room and a wound-care unit.
Rodent activity was detected in a sink in a chemotherapy suite, as well as in a tearoom in its oncology unit.
Silverfish, scaly insects that feast on dead hair and skin, were a persistent problem in the maternity hospital at CUH, where pest control technicians were called at least nine times.
The insects, which can grow up to an inch in length and live for three years, were found in a parenting room, bedrooms, a bathroom, corridor and changing room in the unit. Service reports by two pest control companies contracted by the hospital reveal details of recurring invasions by a variety of species throughout the facility.
The reports were released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Last December, rodent activity was reported in a sink on a cancer treatment ward. Two extra baits were laid in Cork University Hospital response to the discovery. Three days earlier, mice were reported in a staff tearoom in the oncology department, while a residual insecticide was used during the same visit to tackle an infestation of ants in a bedroom.
In August, pest controllers were called a number of times to deal with invasions of silverfish.
In the maternity it was recommended a shower drain in one of the rooms be “cleaned out”.
In the physio department a spray treatment against silverfish in a female changing room was carried out.
They were also spotted in a parenting room of the maternity unit last September, prompting technicians to treat wall/floor junctions with a spray.
In June ants were spotted in a blood room, a neonatal room, and on the Ladybird Ward, where patients under 18 months of age stay.
The following month, ants were found in a staff toilet in the old nurses’ home, in a disabled toilet on a corridor near the dental hospital, and in the main library.
A public-relations company contracted by CUH did not comment in relation to the pest-control reports.