Saturday 12 November 2022 02:02 AM Care homes and hospitals may soon be forced to stop refusing visitors over ... trends now
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Care homes and hospitals may soon be forced to stop refusing visitors in facilities due to Covid concerns if plans being drawn up by the government are passed.
Policies put in place at the height of the Covid pandemic restricted movement into and out of many facilities for the safety of residents.
But Minister of State for Social Care, Helen Whately has now slammed the policies for lacking basic humanity, revealing she was personally impacted by rules which prevented her from visiting her critically ill mother.
She now wants to develop new laws which will give residents and patients more rights to choose whether they receive visitors.
While official visiting restrictions were suspended earlier this year in England, government figures revealed hundreds of care homes still have procedures in place which make it difficult, or impossible in some cases, for people to see their loved ones.
Ms Whately told The Times: 'The darkest days of the pandemic are thankfully behind us but I'm still hearing from families [who are] being stopped from visiting loved ones.
Policies put in place at the height of the Covid pandemic restricted movement into and out of many facilities for the safety of residents
'I know how it feels. I didn't know if I would see my mum alive again when she was very ill in hospital in the summer.
'I remember well the feelings I had at the time — grief mixed with frustration and even anger
