Unwanted hospital visitors when wards 'become zoos'

Published on Thursday 8 October 2009 22:06

A SCOTTISH Health trust has been accused of running a hospital that was "more like a zoo", after pest controllers were called in almost 500 times in less than 12 months.

The clean-up team had to be brought in to deal with a bizarre invasion of bats at one of Scotland's largest acute hospitals, run by NHS Tayside.

And it was also revealed yesterday that between October last year and this September 2009 pest controllers were called to NHS Tayside hospital premises 462 times.

The majority of incidents involved insects such as ants, flies, cockroaches, wasps, and beetles. But the pest control specialists also had to deal with rats, mice, seagulls, and even a dead rabbit.

On two separate occasions last month bats were found flying around two of the wards at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

The uninvited visitors were first spotted in the general medical Ward 6 on 4 September and then on the surgical Ward 9 five days later.

North East Scotland Labour MSP Marlyn Glen said yesterday patients and their families would find the scale of pest infestations at hospitals in Tayside "utterly repellent".

A patients' campaigner said the situation was "totally unacceptable and frightening".

Ms Glen declared: "I am very concerned about the infestations recorded at Ninewells.

"We expect the proper standards of hygiene to be maintained in our modern-day hospitals, and especially in major ones such as Ninewells. I am certain that NHS Tayside will be giving the highest priority to restoring zero tolerance of such attacks, and to preventing these incidents occurring again."

Ms Glen continued: "When someone we love goes into hospital we have a right to expect that they will be treated in clean and safe conditions.

"The idea that our hospitals are infected with mice, cockroaches and even bats is utterly repellent." She added: "I would urge the Scottish Government to ensure that the health board are given full co-operation and be also given additional resources from the Scottish Government if these are needed."

Margaret Watt, the chairwoman of the Scotland Patients Association, said

: "They seem to be going back instead of forward. It is bad enough that patients have to put up with MRSA and C. difficile, without having a menagerie in the wards as well. Ninewells is not a zoo. It's a hospital.

"Somebody's head should roll. This health board has got to waken up and realise this cannot continue."

A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside defended the health authority's record.

She said: "We have robust procedures in place across all our hospitals and sites for reporting pest control problems.

"Patients can be reassured that staff in our estates department, cleaning staff and infection control teams work closely together to make sure all incidents are resolved quickly and effectively."