England’s filthiest hospitals were today exposed in MailOnline’s dossier of interactive data.
The worrying stats show a stark divide between NHS trusts across the country, with some recording scores almost 10 per cent lower than the top rated.
Health service analysts said while this isn’t a measure of poor care, lower figures serve as a smoke alarm that necessitates further investigation.
Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust ranked lowest in the country, according to the data published by NHS England.
This was followed by Whittington Health NHS Trust in North London and Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
It comes as a shock report this week revealed NHS hospitals and buildings are crumbling, plagued by vermin and crippled by sewage leaks.
The staff survey of almost 9,000 health workers by the union Unison found the workplaces are crawling with rats, cockroaches, silverfish and other pests.
Staff are also affected by crumbling ceilings, defective lighting and broken lifts and toilets, raising concerns that staff and patient safety is at risk.
Of those polled, around one in six (16 per cent) said they had seen vermin such as rats inside their building in the past 12 months.
Similarly, 16 per cent said there had been other infestations such as silverfish, ants and cockroaches.
Silverfish are metallic, silvery bugs that thrive in damp conditions while cockroaches can carry diseases and illnesses such as gastroenteritis, diarrhoea, typhoid and salmonella.
Rats carry several diseases such as leptospirosis, which is spread in their urine, and can cause liver failure in humans.
Unison suggested the pests may be thriving in damp conditions and unfixed premises.
The fresh figures ranking NHS trusts in England by cleanliness were published in the health service’s own 2024 Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) report in February.
The document reports the results of assessments undertaken by teams of NHS staff and members of the public, known as patient assessors.
A total of 1,107 assessments were undertaken across all settings in England, with the national cleanliness average standing at 98.3 per cent.
Whittington Health NHS Trust ranked second lowest among all NHS trusts in the NHS England PLACE report published in February. Pictured, Whittington Hospital
While all were rated above 90 per cent, there were clear differences between the 190-plus NHS trusts in England.
According to the figures, Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust ranked at 92.5 per cent.
This was followed by Whittington Health NHS Trust, Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust.
Each recorded scores of 93, 93.1 and 93.5 per cent respectively.
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust and East London NHS Foundation Trust, meanwhile, logged 94 and 94.2 per cent.
MailOnline has approached all six NHS trusts mentioned for comment.
By contrast, seven NHS trusts including Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust and Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust were all awarded scores of 100 per cent.
South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust and Gloucestershire Health and Care Foundation Trust followed, recording 99.9 per cent each respectively.
Whittington Health NHS Trust was followed by Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust at 93.1 per cent. Pictured, Arrowe Park Hospital, which is a Wirral University Teaching Hospital
It comes as the fresh Unison survey, released this week, also found 17 per cent of staff do not think their building is safe.
More than half (52 per cent) reported seeing buckets catching leaking water in their workplace buildings in the past year while almost a quarter (23 per cent) witnessed sewage leaks.
One member of staff working in the north-west of England told how rodent bait boxes were dotted all over his hospital and a leaking waste pipe had resulted in a foul odour.
However, rats were still getting into a room storing sterile instruments and supplies, he said.
Another worker in charge of cleaning and handling medical equipment in the east of England told Unison he had seen mouse droppings on the floor and desks in reception, in staff breakrooms and in the sterile instrument storage room.
Helga Pile, head of health at Unison, said: ‘This survey paints a worrying picture of an NHS system that’s falling apart at the seams and in need of a serious overhaul.
‘No-one should be dodging rats, stepping over sewage or watching out for falling ceiling tiles in NHS buildings.
‘The last thing patients or staff want is vermin, cockroaches and other unpleasant things roaming the wards. Disease-carrying pests can put people’s health at risk.
‘Previous governments made wildly exaggerated claims about building new hospitals and raided pots of cash earmarked to improve the NHS estate.
‘The NHS should be fit for the 21st century, not a crumbling Dickensian relic.
‘Fixing the damage done by years of neglect isn’t going to be a five-minute job. Money needs to be made available immediately to sort out the worst of the problems.
‘Longer-term investment plans must be sped up and maintenance budgets spared the axe.
‘If operations are cancelled and wards closed because of pests and sewage leaks, delays and waiting times will only get worse.’
In January, MailOnline revealed mice were running around a ‘disgusting’ ward at Walsall Manor Hospital.
Pictures published last year also showed a rat infestation in a kitchen at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust that serves 1,500 patients every day.
