Health inspectors have uncovered a plague of mice at a hospital canteen – the third time the same kitchen has been infested in just 19 months.

Critics compared hygiene levels at the St George’s Hospital eatery to “a dodgy kebab van” after a health inspection left the hospital rated as one of the most high-risk food establishments in the borough.

Inspectors from Wandsworth Council’s environmental health team discovered a “heavy mouse infestation” when they visited the Lanesborough Wing restaurant on September 29, this year.

The diner was used as a staff canteen until it was closed for refurbishment last month.

Patient food has been prepared outside the hospital for several years.

The inspector’s report said: “We find it unacceptable for any business, let alone a hospital, to achieve a “poor” or “very poor” rating.”

Giving the hospital a “zero star” hygiene rating, the inspector said: “The margins for error in a kitchen that serves a hospital are less than in other catering establishments.”

Although there was no evidence of an imminent risk to health, inspectors put the hospital in its highest risk category – one of 22 establishments in Wandsworth with the same rating.

Inspectors first found a horde of mice had invaded the kitchen in February 2008.

They warned the hospital it could face prosecution after it found a “severe mouse infestation”.

“In view of the vulnerability of some of your customers, this situation is totally unacceptable,” the inspector’s report warned.

An inspection three months later noted mouse droppings, but a visit in September 2008, revealed an improvement.

Mark Clarke, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Tooting, said: “Hospital managers should hang their heads in shame that their kitchen hygiene has disintegrated to a state more akin to that of a dodgy kebab van than a leading hospital.

“St George’s needs less focus on fancy entrance foyers and expensive management consultants and more focus on basic standards of cleanliness and hygiene.”

A spokesman for St George’s Hospital Trust said it was renovating the kitchen.

He said: “The trust is taking the issues raised by Wandsworth’s Environmental Health team extremely seriously.

“We are currently undertaking a major modernisation of our restaurant area, which is more than 30 years old, to ensure we deliver the highest standards of food service.”

The hospital’s contractor is responsible for running the food operation and hopes to have the restaurant redevelopment finished by early 2010.

The hospital will have a re-inspection in six months.

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