Scotland’s NHS spent more than £4 million on pest control in the last five years.
A Scottish Labour freedom of information revealed the health service has spent £4.3m on pest control since 2019.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s spend was the highest at £2.1m.NHS Grampian spent nearly half a million pounds
Scottish Labour deputy leader 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.”
Pests reported included pigeons and seagulls, wasps’ nests, ants, rats, mice, maggots, and cockroaches.
In NHS Highlands, 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 Glasgow and Greater Clyde hospitals, there were 61 call outs for ants and 33 for rodents in January to April 2024 alone.
Two patients died at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow in 2019 after contracting an infection caused by pigeon droppings.
The Scottish Government’s Draft Budget set aside more than £1 billion in capital spending for the NHS.
A spokesman for the Government 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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