‘The health board should reassess their decision,’ said one politician
17:12, 16 Feb 2026
University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff(Image: Huw Evans Agency)
An under-fire hospital is facing calls to suspend an employee who is on police bail after being arrested on suspicion of rape. Last week we revealed Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales (UHW) had opted against suspending the staff member, leaving the complainant horrified.
South Wales Police confirmed a man from Cardiff was arrested last August on suspicion of rape, intentional strangulation, coercive or controlling behaviour, stalking, and common assault. He remains on bail while police investigate but Cardiff and Vale university health board decided to place him in “a supervised non-patient facing role” rather than suspending him.
The complainant, who has recently been attending appointments at the hospital in Heath, said the health board’s stance had left her “very disheartened and quite frightened”. For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here.
Heledd Fychan, Plaid Cymru MS for South Wales Central, has now told us: “It’s imperative that the complainant is able to feel safe when attending hospital appointments whilst the police investigation continues into these extremely serious allegations, and clearly that’s not the case as things stand.
“In light of this, the health board should reassess their decision taking into account the fact that the complainant is a patient. I will be raising this matter with the health board.”
Llamau, a charity that tackles domestic abuse and related issues, said it is “imperative any employer sends a message of zero tolerance to allegations of such behaviour”.
The charity said employers must follow “appropriate safeguarding procedures” and take all allegations of sexual violence “extremely seriously”.
We were first contacted by the complainant after the health board refused to tell her whether it had suspended the staff member. She said she was “terrified” of encountering him at the hospital during one of her appointments.
Her concerns grew when she saw a social media image of the suspect attending a work do, which took place away from the UHW premises.
After WalesOnline asked about the status of the suspect, the health board confirmed he had not been suspended but had been “placed in a supervised non-patient facing role while the alleged offences are being investigated”.
When we informed the complainant of this, she began crying. “l feel quite disheartened by the NHS and whoever made this decision,” she said.
“I’m a vulnerable person going to my appointments. After what he did to me, it scares me and I just don’t think it’s right. I kind of feel cheated, just very disheartened and quite frightened.”
She is worried that even if the suspect’s current role does not involve any contact with patients, there could be a safeguarding risk to colleagues and others he might interact with.
Her mother added: “I honestly have no words. I’m in total shock. What is it coming to that [an alleged] rapist is working somewhere that is meant to support vulnerable, helpless people?
“Without [WalesOnline] finding this out, we would still be in the dark. My daughter could come across him while going to her appointments.
“She is under the crisis team because of the impact this has had on her and the very same NHS is continuing to employ this individual.”
This is the latest in a series of major controversies to have hit the health board. We revealed two damning internal reports from the last 18 months that found potential criminal behaviour had been tolerated under weak leadership. This included theft and use of illegal drugs in the operating theatre department, as well as physical violence and reports of sabotage in the decontamination unit.
We also recently reported claims that an employee of the decontamination unit had kept his job despite a disciplinary investigation upholding an allegation that he had suddenly exposed his private parts to a young female colleague.
Speaking about the rape suspect, a health board spokeswoman said it had “taken action and carried out a detailed risk assessment with safeguarding colleagues with the details and evidence provided”.
She added: “As a health board we take allegations such as these extremely seriously. Our fundamental priority is the safety of our patients, visitors, and colleagues, and this decision was made following reviewing the detailed risk assessment.
“We are continuing to liaise with South Wales Police who are leading the investigation and are unable to comment further at this stage.”
You can read more here about our recent investigations into the beleaguered health board, which has been placed one step below special measures by the Welsh Government.
If you know of a story we should be investigating, email us at conor.gogarty@walesonline.co.uk
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