Television presenter Kirstie Allsopp launched a scathing attack on hospital visitor policy on Thursday describing some cases as 'wildly slow and unimaginative' in how provision is being handled since the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an interview on LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr, the 50-year old criticised what she believes are inconsistencies across the country that have resulted in unnecessary pressures on families.
The Location, Location, Location star said the main issue concerns 'designated visitors' whereby people in some locations are having to choose just one or two family members for the entire length of their hospital stay.
She added that if a designated visitor was unable to attend they would feel 'terrible', which would only result in added stress.
She explained that situations such as these are 'divisive' for families and potentially exhausting for sole-designated family members.
When asked by host Marr, 62, about hospitals' visitor policies, Kirstie said: "I think they've been wildly slow and unimaginative.
"The reason I think that is because there are hospitals who have normal visiting practices, obviously it's not a free for all, hospitals aren't Disneyland, you know, two visitors around the bed is quite enough and 11am to 8pm, don't stay too long.
"That's all reasonable. But if many, many hospitals are able to do that there's no data to support the hospitals who aren't doing that."
Kirstie, who is currently campaigning and visiting hospitals around the country against these internal regulations added: "I don't want to name hospitals here, but there are hospitals all over the country which have enormous differences, as I said, some hospitals where you can only visit by appointment or worse.
"They have a system called 'a purpose for visit'. Obviously, as you know, if someone has suffered from a stroke or post operative delirium or has received bad news and had to have rushed surgery, they're in shock and familiar faces are incredibly medically important."
Kirstie closed her interview with advice for those who have problems with the rules surrounding visiting loved ones.
"If you are struggling to get access to a family member, look at the guidance. NHS England have said that you should be allowed and that visitors are important," she explained.
"If your local hospital isn't doing that, you really need to get on to PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) and get vocal about it."
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