Let's talk...hospital visiting

In June 2021 Healthwatch Rutland, in partnership with Healthwatch Leicester and Leicestershire, embarked on a project to investigate the public’s experiences and opinions about the new ways of working in and accessing health and social care that have emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim was to understand the impact these changes have had on service users, whether the changes have been perceived as positive or negative and how people’s health and wellbeing has been affected because of this.

To investigate this, Healthwatch Leicester and Leicestershire did semi-structured interviews with 8 people. 5 face-to-face, 2 via telephone and one via email narrative. These are some of the key findings.

Family members feel shut out of hospitals and care homes, unable to be involved in and oversee care of a loved one. This can have a negative effect on visitors’ wellbeing.

Visitors have appreciated other ways of seeing their loved ones, such as iPads and the ‘Letters to Loved Ones’ service, but that doesn’t replace face-to-face contact. Especially in terms of a patients last days.

Communication with health professionals was not always positive or regular. This can lead to the visitor feeling even more isolated from the patient.

New visiting guidelines are not flexible enough for family members and carers who are working or have other commitments. Having only daytime visiting slots and one designated visitor can be a strain on friends and family, especially when the patient may be in hospital for many weeks.

It has been well documented that visits from loved ones can be beneficial for the patient and this study shows it is also good for visitor peace of mind. Restrictions of face-to-face visiting can mean key parts of the patient story are missed or overlooked.