London hospital forced to close canteen kitchen after mouse droppings found in onions

A London hospital has been forced to close a canteen kitchen after inspectors found mouse faeces inside onions and on the kitchen equipment.

The facility at University College Hospital’s building in Marylebone’s Westmoreland Street was handed a ‘zero’ food hygiene rating after the late-January discovery.

The kitchen was used for a ground-floor cafe run by the outsourced Compass Group, which serves food to staff and visitors.

A food hygiene inspection obtained by the Standard under freedom of information laws said “mouse droppings” were found on chopping boards, a trolley, the floor and on the dough mixture machine.

It added: “At the time of the visit, there were mouse droppings within the onions in the cage.”

Inspectors from Westminster City Council also raised alarm about a lack of soap, saying: “At the time of the visit, there was no soap at the kitchen wash hand basins.”

The kitchen has remained closed since the inspection.

In a press release announcing its contract with the hospital in 2020, the Compass Group boasted it would maintain “consistent, high standards of cleaning” while offering “freshly cooked” meals to patients.

A spokesperson for the outsourcing giant said that it had acted swiftly to resolve the hygiene issues and that it hoped to reopen the venue “imminently”.

“We take food safety incredibly seriously and following an Environmental Health Officer (EHO) visit we voluntarily closed a basement kitchen. We are looking to reopen the kitchen imminently,” said the spokesperson.

“We are working with the EHO and hope to facilitate a follow up visit soon. This matter arose following building works in the area.”

It said that patients’ meals were not affected because these were prepared off-site and an alternative kitchen for the cafe is being used during the closure.

A spokesperson for the UCLH Trust, also said it was working with Compass to resolve the issue, adding: “The kitchen prepares food for a retail café for staff and visitors – patient catering is unaffected as this food is prepared offsite.”