Rats, cockroaches, silverfish and other pests are a regular hazard in NHS buildings plagued with sewage leaks, defective lighting, broken toilets and crumbling ceilings, warns UNISON today (Friday).
Around one in six hospital staff (16%) say they’ve seen vermin inside their buildings in the past 12 months. A similar proportion (16%) report evidence of other infestations such as silverfish, ants and cockroaches.
Silverfish thrive in damp conditions, while cockroaches and vermin can carry diseases such as E. coli and salmonella.
The UK-wide survey of almost 9,000 health workers paints a worrying picture of a dilapidated NHS estate, says UNISON, where 17% of staff don’t think their building is safe.
The findings are released as health workers belonging to UNISON prepare to gather for their annual health conference in Liverpool next week.
More than half of NHS employees (52%) say they’ve seen buckets catching leaking water in their workplace buildings in the past year, while almost a quarter (23%) have witnessed sewage leaks.
Over a quarter (28%) say public toilets in their hospitals have been out of order for extended periods. Things are even worse for NHS employees, with three in ten (30%) reporting broken staff loos.
The union says there is evidence of deterioration everywhere in the wider NHS estate as almost half of those polled (47%) say lifts are out of order, over a quarter (27%) complain about defective lighting and one in five (21%) warn of crumbling ceilings.
The findings come weeks after a mouse was filmed running through wards in Kent. Earlier this year, staff at a hospital on the Wirral said fly infestations and dead rats had forced operations to be cancelled.
One member of staff working in north west England told UNISON there were vermin bait boxes dotted all over his hospital, but this hadn’t stopped rats getting into a room storing sterile instruments and supplies. The health worker added that a leaking waste pipe had resulted in a foul odour in the surrounding area for over a year.
A hospital domestic from Scotland said ceilings had collapsed and water buckets collecting leaking rainwater were a constant trip hazard. But that these were less of an issue than the regular sewage leaks from broken pipes. She said one building had been hit with a beetle infestation.
A worker in charge of cleaning and handling medical equipment in the east of England told the union he had seen mouse poo on the floor and desks in reception, in staff breakrooms and even in the sterile instrument storage room.
Commenting on the findings, UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: “This survey paints a worrying picture of an NHS system that’s falling apart at the seams and in need of a serious overhaul.
“No one should be dodging rats, stepping over sewage or watching out for falling ceiling tiles in NHS buildings.
“The last thing patients or staff want is vermin, cockroaches and other unpleasant things roaming the wards. Disease-carrying pests can put people’s health at risk.
“Previous governments made wildly exaggerated claims about building new hospitals and raided pots of cash earmarked to improve the NHS estate. The NHS should be fit for the 21st century, not a crumbling Dickensian relic. Fixing the damage done by years of neglect isn’t going to be a five-minute job.
“Money needs to be made available immediately to sort out the worst of the problems. Longer-term investment plans must be sped up and maintenance budgets spared the axe. If operations are cancelled and wards closed because of pests and sewage leaks, delays and waiting times will only get worse.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON polled 8,794 hospital workers between 26 February and 14 March 2025 on the state of the buildings where they work. The findings are part of a wider survey of health workers.
– UNISON’s annual health conference runs from Monday 7 to Wednesday 9 April 2025 at ACC Liverpool L3 4FP. The union’s general secretary Christina McAnea will be giving her keynote speech on Tuesday afternoon.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contacts:
Dan Ashley M: 07789 518992 E: d.ashley@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk
The article Rats and other pests all too common in crumbling NHS buildings, warns UNISON survey first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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