Hospital trust in charge of Barrow hospital called in pest controllers more than once a week last year

Newly-published figures show the trust in charge of Barrow's Furness General Hospital called in pest controllers 58 times during the 2015/16 year to tackle the problem of pests on its sites.

The number of visits to FGH, in Dalton Lane, as well as Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, peaked last year - with just 40 call outs in 2014/15 and 31 during the previous year.

The service, contracted out to private firm Pestokill until 2019, has cost the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust £2,151 annually for the past five years, contributing to a total spend of £6,084.

Sue Smith, executive chief nurse at UHMBT, explained pest control was a priority for the hospital in a bid to minimise infection risk.

She said: "Due to the risk of infection, staff are extremely vigilant when it comes to pest control in our hospitals.

"Not only is close staff monitoring important, but we are also grateful to patients and

their families who inform us when they see anything that may cause any spread of infection.

"Outside of the hospital this can include mice, waste from seagulls, wasp nests etc.

"Inside the hospital this is more likely to be pests such as ants.

"In line with best practice, we employ a company for pest control across all of our hospitals, who we will call-out if and when required.

"They are available all year round as infection control is always a high priority for everyone at all of our sites."

The figure forms part of an estimated yearly bill of £1.1m to the NHS for keeping its hospitals and grounds free of vermin and insects last year.

The figures were released as part of a Freedom of Information request.

They reveal some hospital trusts elsewhere in the country are spending tens of thousands of pounds of their tightened budgets to keep their wards, operating theatres and grounds free from pests.

UHMBT's neighbouring trust, the North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, was shown to have called pest controllers on 19 occasions last year, having spent a total of £6,626 on the service over the 12-month period.

In total, the trust, which runs Carlisle's Cumberland Infirmary and the West Cumberland Hospital, in Whitehaven, spent £16,300 on pest controllers, who were called out on 118 occasions since 2011/12.

Trusts elsewhere in the country fared even worse, with Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust, in Greater Manchester, reporting 302 pest sightings last year alone while the largest spend on keeping critters in check was made by Guys and St Thomas's Trust in London, which forked out £132,000 in just 12 months.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "Hospitals must have an effective pest control policy and the use of experts is good practice to ensure that buildings are kept clean and safe for patients."

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