The cancer centre has been accused of over-spending on senior managers at the expense of frontline workers
Staff at a Welsh cancer hospital have accused bosses of overseeing a toxic culture. The Velindre cancer centre, in northern Cardiff, recently commissioned an independent report into allegations of bullying and harassment but has come under fire for not showing staff the full findings.
Whistleblowers also claim the centre made a costly and unpopular decision to prioritise senior managers over frontline staff in a recent restructure. They allege a manager in Band 9 (the highest-paid category, with an annual salary of at least £112,782) and seven managers in Band 8 were hired to replace the previous structure of two Band 8 managers. Meanwhile, the hospital allegedly failed to replace some nurses and frontline workers who had left.
Velindre University NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, says the year-long restructure process “enhanced” services ahead of the transition to its new £885m cancer centre, which is due to open in 2027 in Whitchurch.
The change in personnel was “achieved at a net cost of £345,000”, according to the trust, which forecasts it will meet its statutory duty to break even in 2025/2026.
After an anonymous group of staff made a serious complaint about the hospital’s culture, the trust commissioned an independent report but chose not to provide employees with a copy after its completion.
Instead they held a meeting in which staff were taken through a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation detailing vague themes of “learnings” taken from the report. We understand these included bullying, harassment, and staff feeling scared to speak up.
One employee told us: “‘Lessons learnt’ were discussed. However, as staff we have no confidence in this feedback or that any action to improve the toxic culture will be implemented. The report remains a secret and will not be shared.”
The trust acknowledged some staff had felt “let down” by the restructure process and had made complaints about “bullying, harassment, and communications”. It accepted there were “a range of lessons learned” but added that the report did not find “formal action” was needed.
Whistleblowers recently wrote to Welsh NHS bosses – as well as health secretary Jeremy Miles and the leaders of Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives – about “incidents of bullying and the pervasive atmosphere of fear that many of our colleagues across all departments are experiencing” at Velindre.
The letter claims staff have been instructed not to “comment on matters outside their direct responsibility” , leading some to feel “speaking up safely is not possible”.
“The atmosphere of fear that has permeated the workplace is deeply troubling,” it goes on. “Many employees have expressed a reluctance to speak up about their concerns, fearing retaliation or negative repercussions.
“Staff wish to communicate a vote of no confidence in the executive but are being actively silenced. We are unable to identify ourselves but given the opportunity through an independent person we will speak out and identify ourselves with the evidence if it is safe to do so.”
Plaid Cymru health spokesman Mabon ap Gwynfor MS told WalesOnline the party is “incredibly concerned by these allegations of serious governance failings” and has raised the matter with the Welsh Government.
He added that the health system must have more “transparency and accountability” to reassure staff and patients that allegations of “corporate abuse” in the NHS are being dealt with.
The trust said its cancer service has “a track record of delivering safe, high-quality care” and that there was no evidence of patient safety being compromised by cultural issues.
“We have robust systems in place for patients, clinicians, nurses, allied health professionals, scientists, and any staff groups to raise any safety issues,” it added. “We actively encourage everyone to raise any concerns.
“There has been no frontline recruitment freeze, and both nursing and medical staffing levels have increased steadily since 2020. In the past 12 months up to January 31, 2026, the turnover rate for Band 5, 6 and 7 [nurses] at Velindre cancer service is 2.75%, which compares very favourably with NHS averages.
“We wish to make it clear that any bullying or harassment is unacceptable. We encourage staff to speak up safely and are committed to addressing all formal concerns seriously.
“We will continue to strengthen our speaking‑up culture, and our staff survey results continue to see us perform well against NHS Wales benchmarks… But we recognise and want to do much more to support our staff.
“Finally, we have no evidence of any collective vote of no confidence in the executive team or operational directors.”
The Welsh Government said it had “discussed the matters raised” with the chair of the trust’s board and that it expects all NHS staff to be “treated with dignity and respect at work, and able to speak up safely”.
The Welsh Conservatives did not respond to our approach for comment despite their leader Darren Millar being among the recipients of the whistleblowers’ letter.
If you would like to let us know about a story we should be investigating, email us at conor.gogarty@walesonline.co.uk
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