SNP ministers urged to improve NHS estate after £4m spent on pest control

Pests reported included pigeons, seagulls, wasps, ants, rats, mice, maggots and cockroaches

SNP ministers have been urged to improve the NHS estate in Scotland after it emerged £4.3 million has been spent on pest control over the past six years.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spent more than £2 million on pest control while NHS Grampian spent nearly half a million pounds, according to figures obtained by Scottish Labour using freedom of information legislation.

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Pests reported included pigeons and seagulls, wasps’ nests, ants, rats, mice, maggots and cockroaches.

The Scottish Government has been urged to improve the NHS estate after it emerged more than £4 million has been spent on pest controlThe Scottish Government has been urged to improve the NHS estate after it emerged more than £4 million has been spent on pest control
The Scottish Government has been urged to improve the NHS estate after it emerged more than £4 million has been spent on pest control | PA

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: “These figures tell a story of a constant battle to keep our crumbling hospitals and clinics safe from pests.

“The UK Labour Government delivered a record Budget settlement for Scotland, including funding for NHS capital projects – the SNP must make sure every penny goes to improving our NHS estate.

“Scottish Labour will prioritise our frontline NHS services so that patients and staff alike know that their environment is sanitary, clean and safe.”

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In NHS Highland, health workers had to grapple with a mouse nest in a nurse’s bedroom, a rat infestation at a doctors’ house, bed bugs in patient accommodation and mice “dropping over everything” in the Fort William dental unit.

NHS Lothian reported call outs to deal with maggots and cockroaches as well as squirrels, while Dumfries and Galloway reported a dead rabbit on the patio of the mental health outpatients’ building.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran reported ants in the maternity department, maggots in the dining room and a mouse running around the X-ray waiting room.

In Greater Glasgow and Clyde, there were 61 call outs for ants and 33 for rodents in January to April 2024 alone.

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The Scottish Government’s Budget, announced in December, set aside more than £1 billion in capital spending for the NHS.

Officials pointed out the NHS estate covers 1,572 hectares, and spending money on pest control is a necessary part of maintaining such a large area.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Our 2025/26 draft Budget sets out a record £21 billion for health and social care, including more than £1 billion capital investment and £140 million additional funding across NHS infrastructure to allow our health capital programme to restart.

“We want to deliver this transformational investment and drive further improvements for patients, but to do that, Parliament must approve our Budget bill to unlock investment to drive the progress – and the healthier population - that we all want to see.”

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Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, health boards spent around £730 million maintaining their existing estate and equipment base.

The SNP runs a minority administration in Holyrood, and so needs the support of MSPs from another political party in order to get its spending plans through the Scottish Parliament.

Finance secretary Shona Robison previously said the Scottish Budget would fund replacements for the Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh, the Belford hospital in Fort William and Monklands hospital in Airdrie.

She told MSPs in December: “If members want it – investment in GPs, dentistry, long Covid, young people’s mental health – then of course they have to vote for it.”

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