4 Saturday June 11 2022 | the times
News
Hospitals are still refusing to allow
patients to receive visitors, as the health
secretary said they should open their
doors.
Patient groups said they feared that
more families would face the “harrow-
ing” experience of losing relatives with-
out having a chance to say goodbye in
person, despite instructions from the
top of the health service for pre-pan-
demic visiting policies to be reinstated.
Yesterday Sajid Javid said hospitals
needed a “really good clinical reason”
to prevent visiting. He said it was
absolutely vital, not only for the
patients but also for their visitors’ well
being.
In dozens of hospitals in England and
Wales visiting has not returned to pre-
pandemic levels. Families are being
forced to choose which of a patient’s
spouse, siblings or children can be their
designated visitor.
Visitors to some wards are expected
to request permission days before a visit
for a slot of a single hour and in some
cases are being asked to state the “pur-
pose” of their visit.
Dennis Reed, of the over-60s cam-
paign group Silver Voices, described the
policies as “cruel and inexcusable”. He
asked: “If some hospitals can open up
their visiting times to pre-pandemic
arrangements, then why can’t every
hospital?”
Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s
chief executive, wrote to hospitals and
clinics last month telling them: “All
healthcare settings should now begin
transitioning back towards their own
pre-pandemic (or better) policies on
inpatient visiting and patients being
accompanied in outpatient and urgent
and emergency care services, with the
default position of no patient having to
be alone unless through their choice.”
At Hull Royal Infirmary “visiting
slots of up to one hour must be booked
with the ward sister or charge nurse andthe visitor must be the same person for
the duration of the patient’s stay”.
Lorna McDonald, 48, said the final
few weeks of her 79-year-old father’s
life were “taken away” by the “barbaric”
policy. She was able to see him only
twice after he was admitted on April 12
with pneumonia and a chest infection.
Approached by The Times, the hospital
said it would update its policies next
week. But McDonald said it was too
late, adding: “My dad isn’t alive any
more. His last few weeks of life were
taken away from us.”
Multiple other trusts’ websites list
similar restrictions that allow one ortwo named visitors.
National visiting policies in Wales
remain much stricter than those in
England. Guidance there says that
“face-to-face visiting should be with a
purpose and not just a social occasion”.
A Welsh government spokeswoman
said the guidance was flexible and
allowed local variation, with “the vast
majority” of places having relaxed visit-
ing restrictions.
Kirstie Allsopp, the television pre-
senter, has been campaigning for better
access and said she feared that keeping
families away could make it harder for
patients to recover. NHS EnglandHospitals still refusing to allow visitors
guidelines recognise that lack of access
to visitors “causes distress” and say that
visiting should be possible “for at least
one hour per day and ideally for
longer”, while reflecting the general
circulation of the coronavirus.
Covid-19 infections in the UK have
begun to rise again, according to the
Office for National Statistics. It said
that an estimated 989,800 people had
the virus in the week ending June 2, up
from 953,900 a week earlier. It is the
first rise since the end of March and
thought to be driven in part by a resur-
gence of the original Omicron variant.
Separate figures suggest that a drop in
the number of people in hospital with
Covid-19 may also have come to a halt.
Health leaders said that trusts were
working to make changes but that this
was dependant on local circumstances,
including how easy it was to separate
patients with Covid.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director
at Age UK, said: “ Many older people
are stuck in hospital beds unable to
leave because of a lack of community
care, and in these circumstances visits
from loved ones are incredibly impor-
tant, providing much-needed comfort
at an uncertain and worrying time.” On
the last day in April, there were 12,
patients in NHS hospitals in England
who were medically fit for discharge.
Hospitals’ policies are harsh,
leading article, page 29Kat Lay Health Editor
Charlie Parker
Extra days on wards
In the week commencing April 22,
patients ready for discharge who
had been in hospital for a week or
more had taken up over 100,
additional bed daysSource: NHS EnglandApril 1April 8April 15April 22105,99,114,105,Case study
P
arents
arriving at
A&E with a
wounded
child have
been removed from
hospital grounds by
security staff (Charlie
Parker writes).
Siblings were forced
to hide their identities
under facemasks to
access their mother’s
ward, and a daughter
was deprived of seeingher elderly father in
the last weeks of his
life.
They are among
stories told to The
Times about the
impact of hospitals
still limiting visitors.
A restaurateur, 36,
from Beverley in East
Yorkshire, described
Hull Royal
Infirmary’s strict
enforcement of the
Covid rules as“heartless” after her
seven-year-old son
was attacked by a dog
and taken to A&E on
Saturday. She said
they were told only
one parent was
allowed. “They
wanted rid of my
husband before they’d
treat our child,” she
said. “All the while
my son was dripping
in blood. It was
heartless.”Passengers travelling to the US will no
longer need to take a Covid test before
departure.
The requirement will be dropped for
arrivals by plane from Sunday in what
has been hailed as a “huge boost for
tourism” by the travel industry.
Fully vaccinated arrivals had needed
to show a negative test taken no more
than 24 hours before departure.
Kevin Munoz, the White House
Boost for holidays as America drops pre-departure Covid tests
Ben Clatworthy Transport Correspondent assistant press secretary, hailed Presi-
dent Biden’s progress with vaccines
when making the announcement.
He said the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention (CDC) will con-
tinue to monitor “based on the science
and in context of circulating variants”
but that tests could now be scrapped.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesman said:
“The removal of pre-departure testing
for international arrivals to the US is
welcome news. It will boost consumer
confidence even further and support
the rebound in transatlantic travel this
summer.”
It comes six weeks after Kathryn
Mizelle, a federal judge, lifted the CDC
mandate that passengers must wear
masks on all trains, planes and buses, a
move the Biden administration is
challenging.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of
the Advantage Travel Partnership,
which represents travel agents, said it
was “extremely positive” that onerous
tests had been removed, adding: “Thisis particularly important for business
travellers, families looking to get away
over the summer and for American
visitors travelling internationally.”
Unvaccinated Britons will still be
banned. Unjabbed citizens and
permanent residents will be able to en-
ter with a negative test.
The US was one of the last major
tourist destinations to still require a
negative test for vaccinated arrivals.
This week Roger Dow, the US Travel
Association chief executive, said thegovernment’s coronavirus taskforce
had acknowledged that the travel curbs
had no scientific justification. They said
any move would be down to the presi-
dent to agree to scrap the rules.
The US reopened to British tourists
in early November with airlines and
holiday companies reporting a huge
rise in bookings. Last night travel boss-
es said they expect a further surge.
Canada has announced that it will be
suspending mandatory random testing
at all airports, beginning June 11.Altitude training Chinook and Puma helicopters take to the skies during preparations for the RAF Cosford Air Show in Shropshire, which returns tomorrow after a three-year break caused by the pandemic
RAF/SWNS