Half an hour a day to visit hospitalized loved ones
These are the provisions still in force at Andosilla. Biondi asks for clarification
04/26/2024 – 07:02
by Alessandra Sorge
CIVITA CASTELLANA – Half an hour a day to visit loved ones hospitalized. It happens at Andosilla in Civita Castellana. Notifying this is a sign hanging outside the ward inviting family members to strictly respect entry from 1pm to 1.30pm. In the same press release, the contraction of times and methods is justified by the presence, in December 2023, of an increase in Covid infections such as to trigger restrictions useful to guarantee patient safety. We’re talking about December 2023, but today? Four months later, is the situation still being monitored sufficiently to keep the strict rule of ‘regulated’ entries in force?
In addition to a large group of citizens, the question was asked by the five-star municipal councilor Valerio Biondi who, with paper in hand, decided to write to the health management and the Viterbo local health authority to ask for clarification.
‘My communication – he says – arises from a personal story which, beyond this, concerns the entire community. Currently, relatives of hospitalized people are allowed to visit their loved ones from 1pm to 1.30pm. Half an hour of time in which, despite the use of the mask, simultaneous and alternating visits by multiple people are ‘prohibited’.
‘Considering the end of the health emergency – Biondi continues – I don’t understand how it is possible that there are such strong restrictions in our hospital. For this reason I decided to write to the Viterbo Local Health Authority asking for clarification.
‘Always respecting those who work and the patients themselves, who must in any case be protected and defended – continues Biondi – it is impossible not to take into account the effects that these limitations have from an emotional and psychological point of view in patients who are already fragile and disoriented by prolonged hospitalization.
According to what the city councilor says, there are many people outraged by this regulation. ‘In older patients – concludes the grillino – the problem is even more delicate. In the middle of mealtimes, these people, often not self-sufficient, find themselves having to eat alone, perhaps aided by nurses who, already overwhelmed by exhausting work shifts and in small numbers, have to take care of their requests. This problem could easily be overcome by allowing more flexible visiting hours, which support patients and healthcare workers themselves.’
