Bed bugs blighted London’s hospitals more than 500 times over 7 years

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 Children’s Hospital, which is run by Barts Health NHS Trust, as well as King’s College Hospital, which sits under the King’s 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 vast majority of Barts Health’s cases were found in The Royal London Hospital, which is an internationally renowned teaching hospital and home to one of the largest children’s hospitals in the UK, as well as London’s 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 Bartholomew’s Hospital, Mile End Hospital, Whipps Cross Hospital and Newham Hospital.

Pest controllers tackled the second highest number of bed bugs in hospitals under King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

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 George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, which is the leading provider of mental health services in the capital’s 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 Ann’s 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: ‘It’s 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.’

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.’

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.

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