Pest controllers dealt with rats and maggots at Tayside hospitals

They should be safe, warm and comfortable the places we go to get better.

But Taysiders are sharing their hospitals and medical facilities with more living creatures than just their fellow patients.

The Tele can reveal today that pest controllers have been called out hundreds of times to deal with the likes of rats, mice, maggots and cockroaches at NHS Tayside properties.

Between January 2013 and October 2014, experts dealt with 199 incidents involving unwanted critters within the boundaries of Ninewells Hospital.

There were reports of rats in laboratories, maggots in a ward and laundry rooms, and a cockroach in the main kitchen during that time.

Pest control wardens were also called out to reports of mice in wards in both Strathmartine Hospital near Dundee and Stracathro Hospital in Brechin in January this year, while someone reported seeing rats in a ward at Royal Victoria Hospital in May.

And across Tayside, there were nearly 50 call-outs to reports of silverfish nocturnal insects that thrive in humid, moist environments.

Health bosses were forced to fork out nearly 79,000 to control the pests although 40,000 alone was spent on ensuring future incidents were reduced.

Ross Graham, pictured right, is the managing director of Graham Pest Control, which is the main contractor for NHS Tayside.

He says the environment in hospitals can make them more susceptible to pests.

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Pest controllers dealt with rats and maggots at Tayside hospitals