Cockroaches, rats, mice and ants have been found in Wexham Park Hospital.

Pest controllers were called out 52 times to the Slough hospital and 17 times to Heatherwood Hospital in 2012, a Freedom of Information request submitted last month has revealed.

Food left outside the hospital kitchen for feral cats attracted rats, reported a pest controller after being called out on May 11 last year.

The head chef killed a brown rat the day before, the report released by the Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said.

The inspector said it was most likely the rats had come via the roof in search of food and commented there were earlier sightings of rats near the school of nursing.

A follow up visit a week later reported no sightings and baits were left for ongoing control.

An ants nest was found on a visit five days later on May 23 after problems were reported in two areas of the hospital.

The pest inspector found ants were behind the front food servery and under the kitchen sink with a nest under the patio in the courtyard which was dealt with by ant gel.

And in November last year, rats, mice and cockroaches were found at Wexham Park Hospital.

Mouse droppings found on a desk triggered a call out in the maternity office behind the reception, stated a report on November 8.

Snap traps and a bait station were laid down and followed up on November 14 when a rat burrow was baited on the same visit by the coronary care unit bins.

Two German cockroaches were found behind the dishwasher in the acute medical unit kitchen by pest controllers in a report on November 19.

As well as laying traps the inspectors found rat bait had been taken from a burrow in the commercial department garden and more was laid.

Two days later a follow up found three dead German cockroaches in insect monitors but new traps empty on November 30 indicated the cockroaches had gone.

A Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokeswoman said: "Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust takes the issue of pest control very seriously.

"Staff are required to report any pest sighting to a Help Line, or they can contact the Trust’s Pest Control Officer directly by phone, bleep, voice ail or email.

"The Trust has a contract with an external pest control company, Rokill, who carry out routine maintenance throughout the year. If there is any evidence of pest incidents, we take immediate action to call in Rokill to eradicate the problem. This is then followed through with surveillance to ensure there is no re-occurrence.

"We have a policy of no feeding of birds in our garden areas to minimise the risk of infestation."

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