{"id":608281,"date":"2025-12-02T22:25:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T22:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/608281\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T22:25:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T22:25:21","slug":"absolute-nightmare-hospital-where-patients-are-wheeled-through-bird-faeces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/608281\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Absolute nightmare&#8217; hospital where patients are wheeled through &#8216;bird faeces&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Shocking accounts of leaking ceilings, freezing wards and pigeon-infested tunnels have laid bare the crumbling state of Wales\u2019 largest hospital<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251122_120253-1.jpg\" alt=\"Bird droppings in University Hospital of Wales\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Bird droppings in University Hospital of Wales<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">A 77-year-old man with emphysema left shivering after a ward\u2019s 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\u2019 largest hospital has become \u201can absolute nightmare\u201d. These are just some of the disturbing accounts emerging from <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/all-about\/cardiff\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Cardiff<\/a>\u2019s <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/all-about\/university-hospital-of-wales\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">University Hospital of Wales<\/a> 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 \u201call-time low\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Here is everything you need to know:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"UnorderedList_unordered-list__gzblI\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"unordered-list\" publication=\"walesonline\">\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">Staff and patients describe the hospital as dangerously dilapidated, with recurring sewage leaks, water damage, and pigeon infestations throughout the building and tunnels.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">Photos shared by employees show pigeon droppings lining walkways and \u201cdisgusting liquid\u201d dripping from collapsed ceilings.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">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.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">His family reports he had no blankets during a previous late-night tunnel transfer and that staff became lost en route.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">A 77-year-old emphysema patient was left shivering for three days during a heating failure on a vulnerable ward amid freezing weather.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">Nearly 300 consultants signed a letter warning of \u201call-time low\u201d morale and serious risks to patient care due to the crumbling estate.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">Staff described repeated complaints ignored by management and said conditions made safe, dignified care impossible.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">A former decontamination worker reported leaks in sterile \u201cclean rooms,\u201d with buckets catching dirty water near surgical instruments.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">An operating theatre report exposed: Chronic leaks, poor lighting impacting surgery, insufficient storage creating clutter, several occasions where pigeons entered trauma theatres<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">A previous death (Gareth Idris Johnson, 41) linked to maintenance problems prompted a coroner\u2019s warning that further fatalities were likely without action.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">Consultants express alarm that plans for a long-promised replacement hospital appear stalled with little communication.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">Cardiff and Vale health board acknowledges the ageing estate but says maintenance teams work continuously and within technical guidelines.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">The Health board claims ward temperatures were within recommended levels when checked.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">The Welsh Government says planning for future hospital sites is ongoing.<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">The health board remains under Level 4 targeted intervention for serious concerns over governance, culture, safety, and operational pressures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">If you would like to contact us about an issue we should be investigating, email us at conor.gogarty@walesonline.co.uk<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shocking accounts of leaking ceilings, freezing wards and pigeon-infested tunnels have laid bare the crumbling state of Wales\u2019&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,12502,4884,105,211,16,15,50476,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-608281","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-great-britain","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-nhs","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-university-hospital-of-wales","16":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115652325424703530","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608281","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=608281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}