Nurses and patients exposed to rotting rats and sewage leaks in ‘dilapidated buildings’

Nurses and other NHS staff are working in ‘insanitary and unsafe conditions’ with reports of rotting rats, insect infestations and leaking sewage in clinics, hospitals and ambulance stations across the country, the union Unison has warned.

Around one in seven (14%) NHS staff have reported being aware of vermin inside their workplaces with the last 12 months, while 13% have reported other infestations such as silverfish, ants, bedbugs and cockroaches, according to a survey by the union.

Of more than 19,000 respondents, at least two in five NHS employees (40%) have seen buckets on floors to catch leaking water, while around one in six (16%) have experienced sewage leaks.

Unison said its findings provide a ‘concerning snapshot of a dangerous and dilapidated NHS estate’.

Some 15% of respondents said their place of work was ‘unsafe’ because of the physical state of the buildings and almost a third (29%) of NHS staff said their employers had closed wards and buildings because the poor state meant there were maintenance and safety issues.

Concerns were also raised around toilets, with 19% reporting that public toilets in their hospitals have been out of order for extended periods, whole ‘unusable’ staff toilets were reported by a quarter (24%) of respondents.

One third of those polled (33%) reported broken or out-of-order equipment, while more than a quarter (28%) told of defective lighting both inside and outside NHS buildings. More than two in five (22%) were aware of cracked walls or floors.

And a small proportion (5%) of health service staff reported asbestos had been discovered in their workplace.

Unison warned the situation was worsening and affecting staff health and wellbeing.

One NHS worker described dead rats found rotting in an aircon unit and another revealed they and colleagues had been bitten relentlessly by fleas as they worked.

Other reports included an infestation of flies in a staff toilet with an open sewage pipe, a roof leaking into a mortuary fridge, and flies and mice in operating theatres, Unison said.

Meanwhile, almost half (49%) of respondents said they had no access to affordable, healthy food while on their shifts, and around one in seven (15%) reported they were unable to get drinking water in the workplace.

Some 29% said conditions had worsened in their place of work over the last 12 months, while almost two-thirds (64%) said things had remained the same. Only 7% reported an improvement.

Unison head of health Helga Pile said: ‘No patient should be cared for in filthy, insanitary and unsafe conditions. Staff shouldn’t have to work in such shocking surroundings either.

‘This survey demonstrates how a lack of funding has left the NHS estate in a dreadful mess.

‘Hospitals should make people better, not expose them to harm from rotting rats, raw sewage and dilapidated buildings.’

She added: ‘Those with the worst problems need immediate access to additional financial support so they can stop the waste and begin putting things right.

‘Investment is essential to bring the NHS up to modern standards and stop it drifting into further decline.’

Unison’s survey was carried out between 27 January and 27 February 2026 and was completed by 19,356 NHS staff in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Previously, general practice nurses have warned of being forced to turn cleaning cupboards into clinic rooms and of struggling to take on new nursing students because of a lack of appropriate space and buildings.

Last year, a GP surgery in Oxfordshire saw a nurse working in a former storage cupboard because of estates issues.

Nurses and patients exposed to rotting rats and sewage leaks in ‘dilapidated buildings’

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