Patients, including children, are potentially being exposed to bed bugs as London hospitals faced hundreds of infestations since 2018.
Nineteen NHS trusts across London said they had to call in pest control over 500 times to tackle bed bugs in the last seven years, costing some hospitals hundreds of pounds.
The Royal London Childrens Hospital, which is run by Barts Health NHS Trust, as well as Kings College Hospital, which sits under the Kings College Hospital NHS Trust, were among the worst affected by the pests.
The figures come despite the NHS own pest guidance warning, which says: ‘Pest activity can pose unacceptable risks to patients, staff and visitors, undermine reputation and public confidence, and damage the environment and food products.
Pest control and management is essential for safe and hygienic healthcare facilities.’
Trusts responsible for more than 40 London hospitals recorded at least 546 bed bug incidents since 2018, according to a Freedom of Information request lodged by Metro.
Out of the 35 trusts in London, 19 said they had to call in pest control, of which 17 said they were blighted by bed bug incidents.
Barts Health NHS Trust was revealed as the host of the highest number of bed bugs amongst the trusts that kept a record.
The trust has faced 177 bed bug infestations since 2018, with more than a third popping up in 2024 alone at 62 bed bug incidents.
The statistics have been collected from a Freedom of Information request by Metro (Picture: Metro Graphics)The vast majority of Barts Healths cases were found in The Royal London Hospital, which is an internationally renowned teaching hospital and home to one of the largest childrens hospitals in the UK, as well as Londons Air Ambulance, which is based at the Royal London.
The Royal London Hospital accounted for 105 of the 177 bed bug infestations in the trust, which also looks after St Bartholomews Hospital, Mile End Hospital, Whipps Cross Hospital and Newham Hospital.
Pest controllers tackled the second highest number of bed bugs in hospitals under Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
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Patients in King’s College Hospital’s major trauma centre and across the trust’s other hospitals were potentially exposed to bed bugs 86 times in the last seven years.
Most trusts have prepaid for pest control control contracts and so did not fork out extra to deal with the bed bug incidents.
However, data from a few hospitals reveals how expensive fumigation and treatment can be for the NHS.
South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust, which is the leading provider of mental health services in the capitals south west, forked out a staggering £41,366.13 to manage just four bed bug incidents.
One case of bed bugs in an entire 19-bed ward in St Anns Hospital, run by Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust, cost over £12,000 to resolve.
This dwarfs the amount spent by other trusts tackling similar levels of the bug, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust paid £400 per their three call outs, whereas the for Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust has 10 incidents that cost £55 per call out.
A handful of trusts, such The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, meanwhile reported no bed bug cases at all in the last seven years.
Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, the membership organisation of NHS trusts in England, said: ‘Its alarming that trusts across England have to spend millions on pest control on top of their rocketing, near-£14billion backlog of essential repairs to buildings and equipment which are in a very bad way.
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Cordery added: ‘Safety of patients and staff is the top priority.
‘Hospitals as well as mental health, community health and ambulance services need safe, efficient and reliable buildings, facilities and equipment to provide first-class care.’
An NHS Providers survey has found that almost seven in ten trusts said estate-related issues are having an impact on their ability to deliver a positive environment for patients, service users and staff.
Sarah Spratt, a bed bug exterminator who worked at Bed Bug Limited for six years, told Metro: ‘Hospitals are a common area to find bed bugs. The big thing to understand is the higher the footfall in a building, the higher the chance of getting bed bugs.
‘It is nothing that the hospitals are doing wrong, it is just statistics. All it takes is one doctor or one patient to bring them in.
‘There is a lack of understanding and a lack of preparedness. Maybe staff could be better training in spotting bed bugs and lead to earlier detection.’
In one year, she said treated the homes of three new mothers who all picked up bed bugs from hospital maternity units in London.
Spratt said: ‘They were horrified. Everybody has this shock when you tell them that a hospital is a common place to pick bed bugs up, because we always think of hospitals as sterile and clean.’
One job Sarah Spratt was called out to saw bed bugs covering a mattress. This image was taken at a separate job and not related to the hospital maternity units (Picture: Sarah Spratt)David Cain, a molecular biologist and founder of Bed Bug Limited, added: ‘Mathematically you cannot have buildings with more than 100 people which don’t have bed bugs introduced to them on average every 10 days. Not all of them infestations will result in a colony of bed bugs.’
‘Hospitals are no different from everywhere else, they will get bed bugs.’
Bed bugs are not known to spread diseases to humans. Last summer, Paris was blighted by a bed bug infestation, prompting fears that there would be an increased infestation in the UK due to the nations’ close transport links.
In September, French scientists unveiled they had found a remedy, a powdered clay which usually is used as a stain remover, could eradicate them in 24 hours.
How the hospitals responded to Metros story
A spokesperson for Barts Health NHS trust said: We take the health and safety of our patients, staff, and visitors extremely seriously and these figures demonstrate our proactive approach in reporting and tackling bed bug infestations. Once chemical treatment and deep cleans are completed the infected room only returns to patient use once it has been signed off as bed bug free.’
A spokesperson for King’s College Hospital NHS said: We are committed to maintaining a clean and safe environment for patients and staff. We regularly monitor our estate and put preventative measures in place to reduce the risk of pest control incidents occurring. When they do occur, we take swift action to deal with them.’
West London NHS Trust said they put the safety and wellbeing of our patients and staff first, and work to ensure our environments are hygienic and conducive to recovery.
A spokesperson added: We follow robust procedures to ensure we can address any infestations and concerns about our facilities as soon we become aware of them. This requires expenditure on pest control services across our 100+ sites – many of which were constructed before the foundation of the NHS and this is just one aspect we hope will improve in our strategy to bring facilities for mental health and community patients into the 21st century.
Whittington Health NHS Trust said they were committed to maintaining high standards across its hospitals, and take proactive measures to prevent pest issues arising and respond quickly if they happen.
A spokesperson from Hillingdon said: We recognise the challenge of managing this issue in busy hospitals such as ours.
‘To support us, we have expert pest control contractors who respond immediately to any issues raised. In addition, our staff are trained to be constantly vigilant and to report any issues they find.’
Metro approached the other NHS Trusts for comment.
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