Hospitals told to lift visiting restrictions and live with Covid
HOSPITALS in England will be told to lift visiting restrictions and allow families to see loved ones under Living with Covid plans, after The Daily Telegraph revealed that every health trust in the country still had limits in place.
The legal duty for those who test positive for Covid in England to isolate ends from today, with universal free testing stopping on April 1.
The Telegraph previously reported that all hospital trusts in England were restricting visitors, despite government plans to move towards living with the coronavirus. Some trusts have since reduced these restrictions in light of the new rules, but around a fifth still have all routine visits suspended.
However, new NHS England guidance is being drawn up to instruct trusts to make visiting more accessible for patients and loved ones.
A letter from NHS England and management body NHS Improvement sent to health care bosses yesterday said: “The visiting guidance is being reviewed in light of the Living with Covid-19 plans and we will be communicating the outcome of this review shortly so that visitors can attend hospitals and healthcare settings in a manner that continues to protect patients and staff.” The guidance is expected to tell trusts they must be more open with their visiting policies.
It comes after this newspaper revealed trusts were limiting non-covid patients to one named visitor for the entirety of their stay, who could only visit for one hour, once per day.
In some cases trusts were limiting the visits to 30 minutes every other day.
Relatives reported not being able to visit loved ones for weeks at a time and that the isolation was having a detrimental effect on their mental health and physical recovery.
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust still has all routine visits suspended. A notice on the trust’s website reads: “From Thursday 24th February 2022, Covid-19 safety measures will remain in place at our hospitals and visiting remains suspended.
“Despite the Government’s easing of nationwide restrictions, we expect all patients, visitors and staff to continue to follow the trust’s Covid-19 safety measures and help us to keep everyone safe.” Only limited exceptions apply to these rules, including visits for end-of-life care, the trust says.
Government sources told this newspaper last week that it would be for the health service and local trusts to retain decision-making powers about Covid guidance including hospital visits.
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the Living with Covid plan in the Commons, Theresa Villiers MP asked him to bring visiting rights “back to normal”, saying it was “the humane and compassionate thing to do”.
Following the publication of the NHS England letter, health bosses last night expressed “concern” regarding the “current lack of clarity” over future testing rules for staff, patients and visitors.
Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, the membership body for NHS trusts, said: “[Trust leaders] are now operating in an uncertain environment as they wait for clarification in a number of areas following the publication of the Government’s ‘Living with Covid-19’ plan.”
The letter told staff to continue with current testing protocols “until further guidance is received” and that there are “no immediate changes” to infection control guidance.
‘Trust leaders are operating in an uncertain environment as they wait for clarification in a number of areas’