Staff members at Wales’ largest hospital have faced disciplinary proceedings after a \u00ab\u00a0toxic culture\u00a0\u00bb leaving some feeling unsafe at work was uncovered.<\/p>\n
The leaked Cardiff and Vale health board internal review included reports of \u00ab\u00a0bullying and harassment\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0violent and aggressive\u00a0\u00bb behaviour at a University Hospital of Wales (UHW) department.<\/p>\n
The investigation, which was completed in August 2024 but not made public, found \u00ab\u00a0systemic failure at all levels\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0unchecked\u00a0\u00bb poor behaviour at the Cardiff HSDU unit, which is responsible for the sterilisation and decontamination of medical equipment.<\/p>\n
The health board said it had acted \u00ab\u00a0robustly and fairly\u00a0\u00bb to deal with the \u00ab\u00a0historic allegations\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
It said five members of staff had since been \u00ab\u00a0subject to disciplinary action\u00a0\u00bb, and that \u00ab\u00a0leadership oversight, management arrangements and team culture\u00a0\u00bb had also been strengthened.<\/p>\n
The initial investigation was based on one-to-one interviews with 64 current and former members of staff, as well as 10 senior leaders who had been involved in the running of the department.<\/p>\n
The review found a significant number of people reported \u00ab\u00a0bullying and harassment\u00a0\u00bb in the workplace, leaving some staff \u00ab\u00a0not feeling safe\u00a0\u00bb at work.<\/p>\n
The culture was described as \u00ab\u00a0toxic\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0mentally draining\u00a0\u00bb, with some staff feeling unsupported when they raised concerns.<\/p>\n
The review also included complaints about \u00ab\u00a0people behaving in a violent or aggressive manner\u00a0\u00bb, such as throwing trays, shouting or hitting trolleys when they lost their temper.<\/p>\n
Staff \u00ab\u00a0swearing or using unprofessional language\u00a0\u00bb during office hours was reported, as well as examples of coercive behaviour, with some colleagues appearing to \u00ab\u00a0thrive\u00a0\u00bb on targeting individuals.<\/p>\n
The review revealed there were two main \u00ab\u00a0cliques'\u00a0\u00bb operating in the unit, engaging in tit-for-tat reporting of each other’s behaviours.<\/p>\n
Complaints were also made about previous reviews and surveys, as far back as 2017, claiming they had made \u00ab\u00a0no difference\u00a0\u00bb, giving the impression that \u00ab\u00a0poor behaviour had been tolerated over a number of years\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
The report also detailed specific incidents, including one in 2022 which saw HSDU managers and supervisors \u00ab\u00a0inadvertently leaving an inappropriate message\u00a0\u00bb on a team member’s answerphone.<\/p>\n
Concern that a member of staff’s Lucozade bottle had been tampered with in 2020 was also included – although the police concluded \u00ab\u00a0there was no evidence of criminal intent and no further action was taken\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
But the review also found that some staff members, who had themselves raised concerns, failed to reflect or acknowledge that their own behaviour might have been a \u00ab\u00a0contributory factor\u00a0\u00bb, with no willingness to \u00ab\u00a0change their behaviour to improve the culture within the unit\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
The report concluded \u00ab\u00a0the culture within the HSDU is not safe\u00a0\u00bb for those involved and was not open and transparent for \u00ab\u00a0all to be able to speak up freely\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
It recommended developing a \u00ab\u00a0cultural action plan\u00a0\u00bb to support the unit as well as \u00ab\u00a0consequences\u00a0\u00bb for individuals, along with measures to boost management oversight.<\/p>\n
But it acknowledged \u00ab\u00a0to change culture will take time and engagement from all involved\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
The health board said it would not comment on the specific detail of the WalesOnline report in which the review was leaked, but in a statement to BBC Wales said it was \u00ab\u00a0satisfied that we have dealt with the very challenging [and in this instance] historical allegations robustly, fairly, equitably and with compassion\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Colleagues’ recollection and accounts of events change over time and those investigating have to make a judgement based upon the evidence of all individuals concerned,\u00a0\u00bb it said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0The review examined a range of cultural and behavioural issues within the service and resulted in clear recommendations and actions. Subsequently, five members of staff were subject to disciplinary action, two of which later resigned, two were redeployed into roles outside of HSDU and one member of staff was dismissed.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0The health board has taken the review and the actions extremely seriously.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
It added leadership oversight, management arrangements and team culture had \u00ab\u00a0strengthened\u00a0\u00bb with \u00ab\u00a0more effective ways of working\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0a more positive team environment\u00a0\u00bb in place.<\/p>\n
The concerns were raised in the Senedd by Conservative member for South Wales Central, Andrew RT Davies.<\/p>\n
During First Minister’s Questions on 27 January, Davies asked First Minister Eluned Morgan how the Welsh government was making sure the issues raised in the review were being addressed.<\/p>\n
The first minister replied it was not unusual for health boards to conduct internal reviews and for these not to be shared with the Welsh government, \u00ab\u00a0especially in cases where it could prejudice any disciplinary action\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
She added that, as a result of disciplinary proceedings being concluded, she had asked the health board to provide the Welsh government with a copy, but was \u00ab\u00a0yet to receive it\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Cardiff and Vale health board insisted the report’s findings and subsequent progress were formally presented to the health board’s People and Culture Committee in 2024, with a further update provided in March 2025, and \u00ab\u00a0has also since been shared with Welsh government officials\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
The latest concerns follow the publication of another critical internal report in May 2025 into failures in the surgical department at the hospital.<\/p>\n
In it, it described an \u00ab\u00a0atmosphere of fear\u00a0\u00bb with allegations of criminal behaviour, including drugs and theft, going largely unchallenged.<\/p>\n
In July 2025 the entire health board was placed into the second highest level of escalation and oversight by the Welsh government – one step below special measures.<\/p>\n
According to health secretary Jeremy Miles, this was due to concerns about the size of its waiting lists but also \u00ab\u00a0a series of worrying cultural and leadership challenges\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff members at Wales’ largest hospital have faced disciplinary proceedings after a \u00ab\u00a0toxic culture\u00a0\u00bb leaving some feeling unsafe at work was uncovered. The leaked Cardiff and Vale health board internal review included reports of \u00ab\u00a0bullying and harassment\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0violent and aggressive\u00a0\u00bb behaviour at a University Hospital of Wales (UHW) department. The investigation, which was completed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9750","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9750\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}