Loneliness of no visitors

Recently my father was admitted with a serious heart issue. For the first 2 days he was quite unwell and of course he wasn’t allowed any visitors . So short telephone catch ups seemed OK. But on the third day when I rang him at 4.30 he remarked that I was the first person he had spoken to since his obs at 1.30. We began to realise that with no afternoon or evening visiting, he was having long spells with no human interaction , he was lonely and bored.

As a family we set up our equivalent of an on line visiting rota. We agreed with one another who would ring and when - just as if we were visiting.

It may be helpful other families to be made aware that although there is no physical visiting allowed, there are times of day when it may help the patients wellbeing to have a phone / video call.