Middlemore Hospital emergency department rat caught after viral video

Pest control workers were called to a South Auckland hospital after a “massive” rat was seen slinking around a waiting room.

A 12-second TikTok clip, filmed yesterday morning, shows a large rat crawling along a wall beneath a row of chairs at Middlemore Hospital in Ōtāhuhu.

The video was captioned: “Rats casually roaming around the hospital.”

The woman who posted the TikTok, known online as Aunty Tuckshop, said she found the incident “disgusting”.

“[I] hope the government puts more funds towards the hospital so we don’t have things like this happening,” she said.

The clip, which has been viewed nearly 100,000 times, left many users rattled.

“The way I would need immediate resuscitation,” one said.

“Sweet as, I’ll just suffer at home from now on,” another added.

“Oh hell no!! Thought it was a cat. That’s huge,” a third wrote.

A rat was spotted wandering through the emergency department waiting room at Middlemore Hospital. Photo / @auntytuckshopnz

A Health NZ spokesperson said it was aware of the viral video.

“Staff were notified of the presence of a rodent and pest control services were called last night,” they said.

“Traps were set in and around the Middlemore Hospital Emergency Department, and the rodent was caught and disposed of.”

The spokesperson said additional traps had been laid outside the emergency department as a precautionary measure and the facilities team were monitoring the situation.

Woolworths New Zealand confirmed this photo of rodents in the deli display was taken at its Dunedin South supermarket on Andersons Bay Rd in November.

The incident follows a court ruling last week, in which Woolworths New Zealand was fined $33,000 for breaching the Food Act 2014 through its failures to address a rat infestation.

The Dunedin District Court heard Woolworths’ South Dunedin store was forced to close for 18 days in February 2024 after repeated rodent sightings and captures.

“There certainly seems to be no issue with the awareness of the rat infestation,” Judge David Robinson said.

“This is a situation about the response once the infestation had been identified.”

An agreed summary of facts stated that staff had logged 112 rat sightings from October to December 2023, with about 10 rats captured over the period.

However, the issue was not raised with Woolworths’ food safety team until January 19.

“By their very nature, supermarkets are attractive environments for rats,” Robinson said.

“The potential harm in this case was serious.”