Shocking accounts of leaking ceilings, freezing wards and pigeon-infested tunnels have laid bare the crumbling state of Wales’ largest hospital
Bird droppings in University Hospital of Wales
A 77-year-old man with emphysema left shivering after a ward’s heating failed. An 80-year-old, in the final hours of his life, transported through a pigeon-infested tunnel where water dripped from the ceiling onto his bed. A member of staff who says working in Wales’ largest hospital has become “an absolute nightmare”. These are just some of the disturbing accounts emerging from Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales in the two weeks since it was revealed that almost 300 consultants had written to senior management warning that staff morale had sunk to an “all-time low”.
Here is everything you need to know:
- Staff and patients describe the hospital as dangerously dilapidated, with recurring sewage leaks, water damage, and pigeon infestations throughout the building and tunnels.
- Photos shared by employees show pigeon droppings lining walkways and “disgusting liquid” dripping from collapsed ceilings.
- An 80-year-old critically ill man was twice transported through filthy, wet, poorly lit underground tunnels where ceilings dripped onto him; he was distressed and cold, and died hours after the second transfer.
- His family reports he had no blankets during a previous late-night tunnel transfer and that staff became lost en route.
- A 77-year-old emphysema patient was left shivering for three days during a heating failure on a vulnerable ward amid freezing weather.
- Nearly 300 consultants signed a letter warning of “all-time low” morale and serious risks to patient care due to the crumbling estate.
- Staff described repeated complaints ignored by management and said conditions made safe, dignified care impossible.
- A former decontamination worker reported leaks in sterile “clean rooms,” with buckets catching dirty water near surgical instruments.
- An operating theatre report exposed: Chronic leaks, poor lighting impacting surgery, insufficient storage creating clutter, several occasions where pigeons entered trauma theatres
- A previous death (Gareth Idris Johnson, 41) linked to maintenance problems prompted a coroner’s warning that further fatalities were likely without action.
- Consultants express alarm that plans for a long-promised replacement hospital appear stalled with little communication.
- Cardiff and Vale health board acknowledges the ageing estate but says maintenance teams work continuously and within technical guidelines.
- The Health board claims ward temperatures were within recommended levels when checked.
- The Welsh Government says planning for future hospital sites is ongoing.
- The health board remains under Level 4 targeted intervention for serious concerns over governance, culture, safety, and operational pressures.
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