Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Hospitals near me are not allowing visitors from NYD

122 replies

Workyticket · 31/12/2021 18:39

I'm in the North East. Both local trusts have said visitors won't be allowed - i understand the reasons behind this and fully support it if it helps contain the virus and exposes staff to less infection

I feel for anyone in hospital atm though. Are all areas doing this?

OP posts:
Redwinestillfine · 31/12/2021 20:09

Same for several hospitals in my area of NW

hatgirl · 31/12/2021 20:10

@AnyFucker

Until Omicron I thought this policy was un necessary and inhumane

But seeing how this variant is so easily transmissable has changed my mind somewhat. For now, anyway

I think at this stage its probably less about protecting patients and more to do with a last ditch attempt at keeping safe enough staffing levels which we can't if all the nurses etc are off with a cold and a positive LFT.

The dam has well and truly burst in social care unfortunately.

IAmSantaOhYesIAm · 31/12/2021 20:11

@Abraxan
I’m not medical staff - I do a different role on a ward.
We have had to employ extra staff to manage visitors but still the abuse continues. It wasn’t like this pre-covid. I’ve worked for the nhs for 20+ years.
It’s so sad for the patients, and stories like @JohnSmithDrive and @Onlyhereforchaletschool are just some of the reasons why.
Ideally people would comply with the rules but sadly they don’t and that ruins it for others. We have had episodes of visitors bringing in covid, passing it on to their relative and that then closes a whole bay of patients and puts poorly people in jeopardy.
I don’t know what the answer is.

Toddlerteaplease · 31/12/2021 20:32

East midlands here. Same here.

Toddlerteaplease · 31/12/2021 20:33

We started allowing a second person to visit for a couple of hours each day, on the 20.12

Salamander91 · 31/12/2021 20:47

NI is the same. Only end of life and birthing partners allowed.

Sallydimebar · 31/12/2021 21:20

Agree while most would follow the rules a lot don’t and would imagine staff are too busy and have enough risk .

My local A&E signs everywhere wear a mask only one parent per child . Receptionist said to one family mum, dad and two kids only 1 of u can stay with child ,took no notice taking 3 /4 chairs up . No masks worn on ward by parent or the one visitor shouldn’t have to be told in hospital setting. No need for whole family in A&E.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 31/12/2021 21:39

Restrictions don't apply for end of life, paediatrics and maternity.

It should be allowed for dementia patients as well. It was the start of a rapid decline for a friend when they were in hospital with no visitors.

I had to take DH to A&E a few months ago before omicron. I wasn't allowed to go in with him even though DH is deaf and struggled to understand what was being said. He's putting off getting a bad hip and knee looked at as I won't be able to go with him.

howdiditcometothis666 · 31/12/2021 21:45

It's disgusting and totally inhumane
@AnyFucker negligence is what goes on

InCahootswithOrwell · 31/12/2021 21:47

I think at this stage its probably less about protecting patients and more to do with a last ditch attempt at keeping safe enough staffing levels which we can't if all the nurses etc are off with a cold and a positive LFT.

Given how contagious omicron is, I'd imagine it's got as much to do with trying to prevent wards being shut down because they have covid outbreaks. The bastard thing is really contagious and you can't put sick people into a ward where you know covid is actually spreading.

It absolutely sucks for patients but it is an unfortunate side effect of people deciding that the number of community cases don't matter. It pushes healthcare facilities into having to put more and more things into place to try and protect healthcare.

Timeandtune · 31/12/2021 21:56

My 89 year old mum has been in hospital in Glasgow since October. Apart from a couple of weeks in late November she hasn’t been allowed any visitors. It’s tough for everyone but we all acknowledge it has to be done. We know she is being well cared for and we know the staff are doing their best.

itsjustnotok · 31/12/2021 22:01

It’s so tough but I get why. We have really struggled with relatives and patients alike over the last few weeks since allowing visitors. We ask for everyone to stay in their cubicles and they won’t and they don’t like wearing masks. We swab all of our cubicles patients and a higher number are testing positive. One patient refused to wear a mask when talking to her nurse and then demanded she be allowed to pop to the shops for snacks! It’s been really difficult because we are trying to keep everyone safe.

Crowdfundingforcake · 31/12/2021 22:13

DUncle in hospital after falling a week ago. Has dementia, serious infection (sepsis). One family member has been visiting every day for as long as possible. Ward staff are busy, so much so that if visitors were not allowed, DUncle would not be eating or drinking from one day's end to the next. He cannot feed himself, and no one is checking or helping him. To not allow a visitor to ensure he eats and drinks is barbaric. If the staff can't do the job his family will.

If there are issues with visitors not complying with mask wearing and testing they should be thrown out.

Katie517 · 31/12/2021 22:36

It’s inhumane and disgusting in my opinion and I know first from a friend who works with dementia patients the impact it has had. Not to mention the impact on the mental health of new mums. Thankfully when I had my first baby in summer 2020 visiting had just been relaxed to allow partners to stay for 2 hours after birth and then 2 hours a day but I have just heard that my hospital has gone back to only allowing partners to attend during labour and for an hour afterwards, despite them needing a negative PCR test, this is inhumane and I really thought we had left this kind of nonsense in 2020. There have been countless accounts of the impact this has had on post natal mental health and it’s really not acceptable 2 years into this to still be using covid as an excuse when we have vaccines and testing available now. Also the stupid rule my hospital has about only allowing 1 parent to be in hospital with a sick child and not even allowing another parent to switch to give the other a break. We have lost all sense of perspective and compassion !

MrsFezziwig · 31/12/2021 22:36

I think at this stage its probably less about protecting patients and more to do with a last ditch attempt at keeping safe enough staffing levels which we can't if all the nurses etc are off with a cold and a positive LFT.

This is one of the reasons, but also the fact that patients in hospital are bound to be more vulnerable than the general population, so need to be protected. You can’t just let Omicron run through the patient population.

I’d be really interested if some of the posters on the “all restrictions must be removed” thread would like to come on here and give us a solution to the problem. Presumably they would just give irresponsible visitors unfettered access until there were no staff to run the wards and all the vulnerable patients had been infected.

PrivateHall · 31/12/2021 22:38

I work on a ward and am disgusted that we are back to this. No one should be denied contact with a family member for prolonged periods of time. I also worry about what would happen if my young adult dc needed hospital care, she has ASD and would absolutely refuse to go in alone - but I don't know if I would be allowed in with her. It really worries me as she has health issues.

realhousewifeofmodor · 31/12/2021 22:42

I wasn't aware they had ever even re allowed visitors. I had a baby a few months ago and there were no visiting hours at all, even for partners. I was on the postnatal ward for 6 days post c section due to complications. No one even helped me out of bed the first time after surgery and I ended up passing out in the bathroom while my baby was left unattended by my bed. It can't continue.

Truenorthmum · 31/12/2021 22:42

@AnyFucker

awful god knows what they are getting away with behind closed doors

What on earth do you mean ?

I'd imagine they mean the kind of abuse and neglect both my baby and I suffered in 2020 because my partner wasn't allowed to advocate for me despite serious mental health problems and being in the midst of a mental health breakdown.

The kind of abuse where someone does something to you after you have clearly declined consent because there is no one there to stop them.

The kind of neglect where less than 30 minutes after a cat 1 EMCS your partner is removed from the hospital and you are left alone, with a baby on your chest after losing so much blood you're slipping in and out of consciousness and your baby gets wedged at the side of the bed, face down because you weren't even handed a buzzer to get help despite the fact that you're literally numb from the shoulders down. The kind of neglect that breaches HSIB guidance.

The kind of treatment a trust can then outright deny when you complain because conveniently there are no witnesses and it's literally your word against theirs.

I'd imagine they mean something like that.

Sallydimebar · 31/12/2021 22:49

Crowdfundingforcake
“ If there are issues with visitors not complying with mask wearing and testing they should be thrown out.“

Whose job would it be to throw them out thou ? and then face a load of abuse!

When I was last in A&E 2 different parents arguing with nurse …1 on how long they had been waiting the other how people were going in before them .

When on ward another dad shouting and swearing at nurse at top of his voice how “long the doctor going to be “and “ if he doesn’t hurry up your going to need security in here “

They really have enough to do without going round telling people to put masks on , wash hands , take test .

Another parent on ward who was allowed to swap with other parent which Is fair enough , but then asking could sibling come In to be told not really as ward is full of poorly children and sibling could pick something up or pass something on .

Guineapigssweak · 31/12/2021 22:53

Totally unacceptable and cruel! I do not and will not ever agree to this. I have read far too many cases of people dying alone and there will be thousands more with treatments being stopped especially for those with cancer. And yes my own Mother is one of them!

Sallydimebar · 31/12/2021 22:54

Also if sibling was allowed to come in that would probably mean all 4 of them in that bay only poorly child would of been tested .

Can see when it’s a elderly patient who may need help with eating and drinking but far too many take advantage.

Crowdfundingforcake · 31/12/2021 22:56

Surely hospitals have security to deal with arseholery. Sitting back and watching a beloved relative lose their grip on life because staff don't have the time or inclination to provide basic care is inconceivable. The only thing stopping DCousin taking her father home is that she can't deal with intravenous antibiotics. The whole situation stinks.

Innocenta · 31/12/2021 22:57

I've been able to have my wife stay with me in hospital through the pandemic when visiting has been limited or forbidden - they DO have leeway to acknowledge exceptional circumstances, it's just that they are (understandably I guess) reluctant to offer this because of increased risk.

MadisonAvenue · 31/12/2021 23:00

@mummyh2016

Ours hasn't allowed visitors since June Confused I'm West Midlands.
Yes, that’s where I am.

I’m surprised after reading this that hospitals in other areas have been allowing visitors.

borisisaknob · 31/12/2021 23:19

And here N Scotland