demanded<\/a> “full openness and independent checks to make sure improvements happen”.<\/p>\nYet when we raised the issue of the latest findings being kept secret, the Welsh Government would only say: \u201cWe take all concerns about patient safety seriously. The health board has completed its investigation and the matter is now concluded subject to its HR process.\u201d<\/p>\n
So the health secretary, Jeremy Miles, is content with the findings remaining hidden? When we asked, his spokeswoman simply said it was “a matter for the health board”.<\/p>\n
One hospital whistleblower told us that stance “just boils my blood”, adding: “Those people were in theatre when they shouldn’t have been. It’s an absolute joke. Why won’t they tell us the outcome?”<\/p>\n
Andrew RT Davies, MS for South Wales Central and former leader of the Welsh Tories, questioned why the findings could not be made public with names redacted. He told WalesOnline: “Many service users feared that a health board-led investigation would result in a cover-up, and the failure to share the outcome of the investigation will only add to those fears.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis failing health board has been found wanting in numerous reports, and hiding behind HR processes will do nothing to restore the confidence patients and staff need to have in the senior management team.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly an investigation should have been made by an external body but, in any case, there is no reason why the health board should not share the outcome of this investigation, with appropriate redactions, so service users can understand what happened and why following the shocking revelations that came out of the Heath hospital earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the health board refuses to release the outcome, the Welsh Government must step in, conduct their own investigation, and release the facts to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also calling for transparency is Plaid Cymru MS and health spokesman Mabon ap Gwynfor, who said: “The health board must ensure that the scenes that played out in University Hospital of Wales are never repeated. We must now see appropriate and effective action taking place which means proper transparency in regards to their findings.<\/p>\n
“It’s clear that there are fundamental issues within our NHS regarding institutional transparency and the power of the patient voice. That is why Plaid Cymru is committed to reforming the governance of our health system, to strengthen oversight and accountability so that patients receive a better outcome.”<\/p>\n
‘Brushed under the carpet’<\/p>\n
Earlier this year the health board told us that “previous concerns regarding unauthorised people in theatres had been raised but not thoroughly investigated or completed”, adding: “Following the deeply concerning allegations made around allowing members of the public to watch operations, the health board has launched an internal investigation.”<\/p>\n
The concerns were understood to have started as far back as the Covid pandemic. Staff told us they had been ordered not to speak about the matter as it was “brushed under the carpet”. A whistleblower claimed: “They had no background checks and it was during Covid. The very little PPE [personal protective equipment] was being used by unnecessary people. They would have been a huge infection risk to not only staff but vulnerable patients.”<\/p>\n
One source said the concerns over operations being watched had been “raised so many times” since the pandemic but had only been investigated after WalesOnline reported on the matter.<\/p>\n
The health board has now said: “The investigation is complete and, subject to HR process, has been concluded by the health board. As is standard HR practice, we cannot comment on confidential matters. The report relates to specific individuals who are subject to an internal process following the appropriate employment policy. This process must remain confidential, and the health board is not in a position to share this in the public domain.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to reassure patients that their privacy, dignity and safety when undergoing surgical intervention remains our highest priority and steps have been, and continue to be, taken to ensure that this is consistently achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n
What those steps are \u2014 and exactly why they needed to be taken \u2014 remains a mystery. If public confidence in this troubled health board is to be restored, that has to change.<\/p>\n
If you would like to speak to WalesOnline about anything we should be investigating, email us at conor.gogarty@walesonline.co.uk<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There has been a complete lack of transparency after serious allegations from whistleblowers Conor Gogarty is investigations editor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,12502,527,535,3374,4884,105,29591,528,211,127448,285,20362,16,15,1764,52036,14794,42719],"class_list":{"0":"post-363419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-cardiff","10":"tag-conservative-party","11":"tag-drugs","12":"tag-employment","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-health","15":"tag-heath","16":"tag-labour-party","17":"tag-nhs","18":"tag-plaid-cymru","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-race","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom","23":"tag-wales","24":"tag-welsh-conservatives","25":"tag-welsh-government","26":"tag-welsh-labour"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115069684699086641","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Conor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_Headshot.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_CDF_171220_UHW_20JPG.jpg\")
The University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff(Image: Huw Evans Agency)<\/p>\n