The trust which runs William Harvey Hospital is 10th in the country when it comes to calling in pest controllers.

East Kent University NHS Trust called in experts to get rid of vermin and insects 416 times between January, 2006, and April, 2008.

The trust manages five hospitals in Canterbury, Ashford, Thanet, Folkestone and Dover.

The figures were revealed in a Freedom of Information request by the Conservative party.

A EKHUT spokesperson said the figures were steadily going down and a lot of the visits were return visits.

Mr Jones said: “We are not concerned about the figures because in fact it paints a picture of us being very attentive.

“The figures reported are over two years. We cover five hospital sites when you break it down it averages out one call out every one and half week. It is not as black a picture that the headline figures would indicate.

“I would like to reassure the public that we don’t have a problem at east Kent hospitals. We treat hygiene and cleanliness of sites very carefully. All those reported infestations are not in clinical areas but in external stores and ductwork.”