Rats, mice and wasps discovered inside Walsall Manor Hospital
A hospital trust spent £3,000 a year on pest control – as bosses rid the site of rats, mice and even a wasps nest.
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust used the cash on pest control measures over each of the past four years at Manor Hospital.
A Freedom of Information request asking for details of pest control call outs between 2013 and 2017 revealed the problems faced.
In the 2017/18 financial year there were 10 call-outs. They include rat and mice sightings in the main entrance and clinical measurement unit.
A wasp nest was also discovered in the hospital.
In the financial year before, a mouse was spotted in a ward kitchen and a small insect called a silverfish in another.
Common
Another wasp nest was discovered outside the neo-natal department in the same period.
Spider mites were found in another ward in the year before as well as rats again, in the boiler room.
Jane Longden, divisional director for estates and facilities at the hospital trust, said: “In common with other large organisations, we retain a pest control budget which provides an ongoing service to the hospital site and allows us to respond to any untoward incidents in a robust and effective manner to ensure the safety and wellbeing of patients and staff across our hospital site.”
Last year the Express & Star revealed how Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which runs New Cross Hospital, spent £93,617 on pest control measures in four years.
This exceeded the £59,347 budget.
Ian Jenkins, chairman of Wolverhampton Lib Dems, said: “Wards are where we should see a nurse or a doctor and not a rat trap.”
