NHS hospitals have once again been told to scrap any patient visiting restrictions introduced during the Covid pandemic. MailOnline has the story.
Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive of NHS England, yesterday told trusts to allow visitors to boost patients’ “experience, mental health and recovery”.
In a letter sent to hospital bosses, she said all healthcare settings “should now begin transitioning back towards their own pre-pandemic (or better) policies on inpatient visiting”.
Ms Pritchard added the “default position” should be “no patient having to be alone unless through their choice”.
NHS guidelines were updated in March to allow patients to have two visitors for at least one hour per day and “ideally for longer”.
But nearly half of trusts maintained policies so strict they flaunted the guidance, the Mail on Sunday found.
Last month Queen Victoria Hospital in Sussex, Yeovil Hospital and St Bartholomew’s in London came under fire for stringent visitor limits. MPs claimed the restrictions were illegal.
Ms. Pritchard said the guidelines were the “absolute minimum standard”.
The letter also announced the decision to “reclassify the incident from a Level 4 (National) to a Level 3 (Regional) Incident”. The level was last raised on December 12th as Omicron surged.
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