Variety of bugs and rodents found in Galway’s public hospitals

Mice and silverfish in the kitchens; rats in a store room; mice and ants in the Emergency Department;  insects in the maternity ward and psychiatric unit . . . these are just some of the sightings of pests, rodents and creepy crawlies at Galway’s two main public hospitals.

Saolta University Healthcare Group has confirmed it spent €50,000 on pest control at University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park University Hospital (MPUH) over two years, 2013 and 2014.

The pest company which was contracted to operate at the two city hospitals was Rentokil.

It responded to some 72 pest control incidents in UHG during that period, including on 53 occasions for insects and 19 occasions for rodents, which included three call outs to deal with pigeons at the Newcastle campus.

During the same two year period, Rentokil responded to 45 pest control incidents at MPUH, including 28 times for insect infestations and 17 rodents.

The figures were released to the Galway City Tribune following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

Saolta also released Rentokil logs of its call-outs, which details the nature of the sightings of pests and insects within the hospitals.

For more on this story, and details of the wards in which the incidents occurred, see this week’s Galway City Tribune