‘The tunnels have been moist, flooded in locations, and there was chook faeces in every single place’
A 77-year-old emphysema affected person shivering after a heating failure. An 80-year-old in his remaining hours, moist from the dripping ceiling of a pigeon-infested tunnel. A despairing workers member who says working at Wales’ largest hospital has turn into “an absolute nightmare”.
These are a number of the alarming descriptions of Cardiff’s College Hospital of Wales that now we have heard within the fortnight since we revealed nearly 300 consultants had despatched bosses a letter stating workers morale was at an “all-time low”. Most of the issues raised within the letter needed to do with the dilapidated state of the hospital, which is affected by sewage leaks and water injury.
After publishing the letter we have been contacted by a hospital worker who mentioned: “The place is simply stuffed with pigeons nesting in what we name the catacombs, the underground tunnel. On the primary ground there are buckets in every single place to catch the water coming by the roof. The entire hospital is an absolute nightmare.”
They shared with us footage of a walkway carpeted with pigeon droppings and a hall the place a “disgusting liquid” was dripping by a collapsed ceiling. It comes after a scathing report on the hospital’s working theatres not too long ago discovered there had been “a number of events when pigeons have been present in trauma theatre or on the theatre hall”.
‘Fowl faeces in every single place’
We additionally heard from a lady who described her critically sick 80-year-old dad’s terrible expertise within the hospital’s tunnels, by which he was transported twice within the days earlier than his demise final month from a lung situation.
Whereas critically sick he was pushed in his mattress by the “disgusting” tunnels, his daughter mentioned, from an overflow unit to the primary hospital constructing so he could possibly be handled with a better focus of oxygen.
“He was taken by way of a service elevator all the way down to the basement of the hospital, after which to a collection of tunnels,” she mentioned. “These tunnels have been moist, flooded in locations, and there was chook faeces in every single place together with garbage and discarded medical gadgets.
“He was in his mattress with a conveyable oxygen cylinder. The ceiling was dripping on him and I needed to cowl him with coats to maintain him heat and dry. It was a superb ten-minute stroll. The porter mentioned it was the one method from one constructing to the opposite.
“We have been slipping and sliding on the moist ground. My dad was frightened and actually upset. After we lastly acquired to the ward they requested how he was feeling now and he mentioned ‘secure’. He lived for 12 hours after that.”
The daughter’s anguish worsened when she discovered of her dad’s expertise going by the identical tunnels 5 days earlier – when she had not been current – late at evening on his strategy to the overflow. “It materialised he’d had no blankets and the porter had acquired misplaced. My dad was fully traumatised by the entire expertise.
“I spoke to a good friend of mine, who’s a nurse there, and she or he mentioned: ‘It is unbelievable and there is nothing the workers can do about it.’ I really feel desperately sorry for the workers, who’re nothing however beautiful and caring and type.”
‘No heating in anyway’
John Ball, 77, was within the hospital final month being handled for extreme emphysema and fluid on his lungs. Amid freezing climate there was a stretch of three days when his ward had “no heating in anyway”, he mentioned.
“We got further blankets,” he mentioned. “The ward was stuffed with very susceptible sufferers and a few have been extraordinarily sick. Not solely is that this a hazard to sufferers’ well being, additionally it is demoralising for the workers who’re doing an excellent job. If this have been every other trade they might have walked out as a result of chilly.”
Mr Ball claimed the ward managers made repeated complaints to higher-ups earlier than motion was taken. “I threatened to sue the hospital in the event that they didn’t kind it out,” he added. “Three days later they improved issues. I don’t know if my menace made a distinction.
“I want to emphasise how onerous the workers work, from catering to nursing, and they’re being let down by the well being board.”
A Cardiff and Vale college well being board spokeswoman mentioned: “The difficulty relating to temperatures inside the A7 ward was first raised by colleagues on Wednesday, November 19, and the engineers have been unable to attend on that day as a result of variety of upkeep requests being handled.
“The upkeep crew attended the ward the next day to research the issue and took temperature readings throughout all areas of the ward with readings recorded between 20.5C and 22.5C, falling inside the really helpful limits set by Welsh Well being Technical Memorandum. The crew have labored to make sure there aren’t any issues with water movement and to make sure no air is trapped in any of the system.”
‘Administration did nothing’
One former worker of the hospital’s decontamination unit – the place surgical devices are sterilised – informed us the security dangers from the crumbling hospital property have been nothing new. They shared an image from 2022 exhibiting a bucket amassing water from a broken ceiling in what was meant to be the sterile atmosphere of a “clear room”.
“The leaks have been coming from water pipes above the ceiling of the clear room. These pipes have been at all times leaking and there have been buckets in every single place with soiled water which we needed to empty recurrently.”
“It ought to have been closed down till the leak was fastened. It wasn’t. We needed to empty these containers earlier than we went residence on weekends. It compromised units [of instruments] getting used on sufferers. Completely disgraceful, nonetheless administration did nothing.”
The College Hospital of Wales is residence to many providers utilized by folks from a a lot wider space than Cardiff. Nevertheless, it was constructed within the Sixties, has main structural points, and long-mooted plans for a alternative haven’t progressed far.
In September we reported on the case of Gareth Idris Johnson, a much-loved 41-year-old dad-of-three who died after the hospital’s upkeep issues led to him being moved to a unique unit following an operation.
This prompted coroner Kerrie Burge to warn the well being board there was a threat of extra deaths if UHW’s issues weren’t addressed.
The current report on working theatres discovered continual leaks risked affecting affected person confidence, poor lighting made operations difficult, and corridors have been “cluttered” due to inadequate storage.
And there was one other plea for pressing motion in final month’s letter from the well being board’s senior guide physique, which you’ll be able to learn it in its entirety right here. It was despatched after a rare assembly of almost 300 consultants who expressed “deep anxiousness” concerning the state of affected person care.
The consultants complained of “persistent” sewage leaks, water injury, and poor cleanliness regardless of repeated reviews from senior medical workers. They mentioned it was “significantly alarming” to listen to reviews that plans for a alternative hospital have been shelved “with none communication to clinicians”.
‘An ageing property’
A spokeswoman for Cardiff and Vale college well being board mentioned: “We respect that hospitals aren’t at all times essentially the most snug environments for sufferers… We’re conscious that the modernisation and upkeep points are indicative of an ageing property.
“Colleagues inside our capital and estates crew present steady upkeep and restore works to the hospital infrastructure, prioritising the well being and security of sufferers and colleagues. That is achieved at the side of and supported by Welsh Authorities estates and capital colleagues.
“We strongly encourage any sufferers who’ve considerations throughout their care to talk instantly with workers within the medical space. Alternatively, considerations might be raised with our devoted considerations crew, who can present a direct response to sufferers and their households.”
The well being board vowed to proceed monitoring the listening to problem and thanked workers for submitting a upkeep request so it could possibly be investigated. There’s additionally a plan for the hospital to get a brand new roof, it mentioned.
Final month the Welsh Authorities informed us the well being board continues to be “growing a plan for the way forward for each the College Hospital of Wales and College Hospital Llandough websites. You possibly can learn extra about that right here.
Issues raised within the consultants’ letter included a recruitment freeze and “the proliferation of center administration” and “frequent round conferences with out outcomes”.
The Tories and Plaid Cymru have accused the Welsh Authorities of not doing sufficient to show across the crisis-hit hospital.
In July the Authorities did escalate the well being board to a ‘degree 4’ focused intervention on account of “critical considerations regarding governance, tradition, high quality and security and operational pressures” – falling wanting degree 5, which might imply inserting it in particular measures. It stays at degree 4.
If you need to contact us about a difficulty we ought to be investigating, e mail us at conor.gogarty@walesonline.co.uk
