Rotterdam’s Maastad hospital has recalled 1,800 patients who underwent an endoscopy over the past few months because of hygiene concerns.

All patients who had an endoscopy between last October and June have been asked to report to the hospital for a blood test to check for hepatitis.

The cleaning system for the equipment, which is used to carry out stomach and intestinal investigations, ‘does not meet safety standards’ and there is a very small risk infections could be transferred between patients, the hospital said.

Two years ago, the Maastad hospital was at the centre of a major scandal after failing to deal properly with a superbug epidemic which killed at least three people.