The End of Visiting Hours

On this edition of White Coat, Black Art: a personal reflection on hospital visitors and the role they play in the lives of patients and the people who look after them.You have probably heard the hospital PA announcement that visiting hours have ended and you are expected to leave. Until quite recently, that was the rule. Most hospitals had restricted...

CBC Radio Posted: Oct 10, 2014 12:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: October 10, 2014

White Coat Black Art27:29Visiting Hours

On this edition of White Coat, Black Art: a personal reflection on hospital visitors and the role they play in the lives of patients and the people who look after them.

You have probably heard the hospital PA announcement that visiting hours have ended and you are expected to leave. Until quite recently, that was the rule. Most hospitals had restricted visiting hours that kept patients and family members apart for much of the day. More important, the rules made family members feel like they got in the way.

We will hear Veronica Ratchford's disturbing story about her husband's final days, and the heartbreaking truth she discovered when she asked hospital officials why her husband died alone when his family was just down the hall.

Brian talks to Leslee Thompson, CEO at Kingston General Hospital, a place where they mostly let family visit twenty-four seven. We explore the pros and cons of unlimited visiting with Leslee, a front-line nurse and advocate for an open-door policy for hospitals.

We asked officials from the Capital Health which runs Victoria General to comment on what happened to Veronica Ratchford and her family. Here is their written response:

"Visiting hours are set between the health care team and patients and families. There are no set hours as such and we work to meet the needs of patients and families. We recognize there are limitations in ward rooms, for example, but we know that arrangements can be made so loved ones can be at the bedside of their loved one at all times. We do have a rest period from 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. when we request patients are given time to rest. "The (visiting hours) policy has not changed, but we are in the process of providing additional re-education and reminding staff about the policy and the importance of providing access to visitors. We also have a customer service program that is being implemented across the organization that is targeted at improving the patient and family experience. "Any kind of personnel disciplinary action is private as it is a human resources matter. We aim for a no blame culture and try to learn from our mistakes. We do review all concerns and look at what things we need to improve so a similar incident or concern does not happen. "Unfortunately, we often do not have enough beds to meet the demand (for private rooms). We have a limited number of private rooms, so not all requests for private rooms can be accommodated. Our first priority for assigning private rooms is to those who need one for medical reasons, such as infection control due to illnesses such as MRSA and VRE. "We apologized for the very difficult and upsetting situation the Ratchford family faced during Mr. Ratchford's last admission. Our intent was and always is to provide compassionate and caring service and in this regard we agreed that we could have done much better. Specifically, we acknowledged how important it is to listen to the family especially with respect to their knowledge of the patient and their insight into the patient's changing medical condition, physical and emotional states. "We apologized for the misunderstanding around our visiting policy and for the confusing communication around the use of private rooms. We expressed our own sadness for Mr. Ratchford's death and shared physician and staff sympathies for his unexpected death. Mrs. Ratchford and her families accepted our apologies and we had good conversation around the improvements and changes that will follow."

You can read a letter from a patient who had a different experience at a Capital Health hospital here.