The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Hospitals invaded by costly critters
NHS Tayside spends £130,000 over five years on pest control
More than £130,000 has been spent by NHS Tayside on dealing with insect infestations and animal invasions in its hospitals.
Infestations of ants, pigeons and seagulls have added to the costs for the cash-strapped health authority. It adds up to an average monthly spend of almost £2,200 on pest control in the last five years.
In neighbouring Fife, the amount in the same period totalled just £52,920.
Among the incidents dealt with were an infestation of caterpillars at the state of the art Broxden Dental Hospital in Perth, removal of a squirrel from Pitlochry Community Hospital and midges, mice and a bat from Perth Royal Infirmary.
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “All reports are dealt with as a matter of urgency... This ensures there is little or no impact on clinical services.”
Hospitals across Tayside and Fife have spent nearly £190,000 on dealing with pests and infestations over five years.
The shocking figures disclose both NHS Tayside and NHS Fife had to get rid of an array of wildlife from its premises, with the most bizarre including a buzzard (Stracathro), a fox cub (Kings Cross, Dundee) , a ferret (Kings Cross), a red squirrel (Pitlochry Community Hospital), caterpillars (Broxden Dental, Perth) beetles, flying ants, fleas, hornets (Ninewells) and ticks (Stracathro).
Among the more common finds were ants, silverfish, seagulls, pigeons, rabbits, maggots, flies, mice, rats, wasps, bats and cockroaches.
The statistics show health chiefs spent nearly £1,000 per month dealing with pest call-outs. This showed the total cost for NHS Tayside was £130,727.64, with NHS Fife spending £52,920.
Some of the most alarming finds were made at Stracathro Hospital, near Brechin, with a buzzard found in December 2013, and then a dead rabbit, a rotting animal and an old wasps’ bike, all being discovered there in the space of a just a week in May 2014. Four rats were then found in the workshop area in December 2014.
The Angus hospital also saw an outbreak of ticks in June 2014, maggots in its MRI room and in an endoscopy room in June and July 2015, and a rabbit with myxomatosis found in October last year.
Staff at Strathmartine Hospital in Dundee faced jumping fleas in April 2015.
An NHS Tayside spokesman said: “NHS Tayside has more than 135 premises across the region and in each there are procedures for dealing with pest control problems.
“Whenever a member of staff identifies any type of problem, no matter how small, our pest control contractors are called in straight away.
“All reports are dealt with as a matter of urgency to ensure there is no escalation of any problem and incidents are resolved quickly and effectively.
“This ensures there is little or no impact on clinical services.”
NHS Fife’s hospitals had to deal with owl midges, beehives, blue bottles, slugs, cockroaches, wasp nests, rodents and ants. The authority did not provide a detailed breakdown of which hospitals had call-outs, but stated they were made to playrooms, hospital kitchens, roof spaces, stores, dining rooms, laundry units, a re-habilitation gym, staff toilets, a diabetic centre, a laboratory, appointment rooms, a reception area, stairwells and coffee shops.
Andrew Fairgreave, director of estates, facilities and capital services with NHS Fife, said: “Our contract for pest control covers the entire NHS Fife’s estate – almost 60 sites – and it is important to note that its remit is not limited to mice or vermin – it also includes dealing with issues such as birds, beehives, wasp nests and rabbits.
“Relative to the size of our estate and the range of work carried out by pest control, the amount spent is relatively low and should not give any cause for concern.”