MORE funds are needed to mend “unsafe” NHS buildings, a health union has demanded after a damning study found many are infested with pests including rats, cockroaches and silverfish.

A Unison poll of nearly 9,000 health workers painted a worrying picture of the crumbling NHS estate, which currently has a £13.8 billion maintenance backlog.

About one in six (16 per cent) of hospital staff said they’d seen vermin inside their buildings in the past 12 months.